Cholesterol Blood Test (home test kits)

Are you worried about your heart? Maybe you are afraid that your lifestyle factors, such as what you eat or smoke or a family history of high cholesterol levels, put you at risk for heart disease. Perhaps you are at risk for having high cholesterol, or perhaps you would like to be proactive with your health and lower your risk for heart disease.

The Cholesterol Blood Test can tell us some things in order to help you take action to prevent raising your cholesterol.

Biomarker table: Cholesterol status

Total cholesterol: The body needs cholesterol. It is not a friend for a healthy lifestyle but it is extremely important in building cell membranes and it also produces testosterone and oestradiol, which are important hormones. Your body makes cholesterol and cholesterol is also found in the food you eat. There's more than one kind of cholesterol, but HDL (high density lipoprotein) is the good cholesterol, and LDL (low density lipoprotein) is bad and if it's in your blood it can contribute to heart disease. 

However a high total cholesterol result on its own does not tell you very much about the risk to your heart disease—you may have high levels of HDL cholesterol which, in your case, looks like it is affecting your total cholesterol noticeably but, in fact, high levels of HDL cholesterol may well protect you against heart disease. 

So if you have a normal total cholesterol but low levels of protective by HDL cholesterol, you’re in just as much trouble. How much HDL and LDL cholesterol you have and what percentage of your total cholesterol is HDL cholesterol is the key. In the rest of this cholesterol profile we break down each of the components of your total cholesterol.

LDL Cholesterol

Lipid and protein particles, also called lipoproteins, composed of LDL cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein), which transport cholesterol, triglycerides, and other fats in the blood to the cells. Fats, including LDL cholesterol, that adhere to artery walls can cause artery wall thickening, a condition known as atherosclerosis, which may lead to heart disease.

Non-HDL Cholesterol

Total cholesterol is divided into two main components: HDL (good) and LDL (bad) cholesterol. In addition to LDL, other types of harmful cholesterol in your blood include VLDL (very low-density lipoproteins) and other lipoproteins, which are considered potentially more harmful than LDL cholesterol. Subtracting HDL value from total cholesterol gives Non-HDL cholesterol. This includes all non-protective and potentially harmful cholesterol or LDL in the blood. Non-HDL cholesterol is considered a better marker for cardiovascular risk than total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. The recommended level for non-HDL cholesterol is under 4 mmol.

HDL Cholesterol

HDL cholesterol, or high-density lipoprotein, is a molecule that circulates through the bloodstream, carrying cholesterol to the liver, where it is broken down and removed from the body in bile. Known as 'good' cholesterol due to its protective cardiovascular benefits.

Total Cholesterol / HDL Ratio

This is the number derived by dividing total cholesterol by HDL cholesterol level. It provides insight into the proportion of total cholesterol that is 'good' (high-density lipoprotein, HDL), and is used as a measure of cardiovascular risk. Heart disease risk tools (such as QRisk) use the cholesterol/HDL ratio to calculate the risk of having a heart attack.

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