Cholesterol Ratio

If you doctor suspects you may have high blood cholesterol that could increase your risk of having heart disease or a heart attack, he or she may want to determine your cholesterol ratio.  

Cholesterol ratio is a comparison of the amounts of different types of cholesterol in your blood. There are actually several different cholesterol ratios you doctor will want to check.

Before we get to definitions of those ratios, it helps to understand the types of cholesterol the ratios measure.

Low density lipoproteins, or LDL This is generally known as "bad cholesterol." It's the stuff that sticks to the sides of your blood vessels and causes a number of health threats, including high blood pressure (hypertension) and atherosclerosis.

High density lipoproteins, or HDL This is the so called "good cholesterol." It attaches to the low density lipoproteins in the blood stream and flushes it away. In a sense (simplifying here), HDL scrubs the blood vessels clean so they can carry blood to the organs and tissues more efficiently.

Triglycerides These are the chemical form of fat. They are the most common type of fat in your body and they're also a major source of energy. When triglycerides are combined with cholesterol, they form something called plasma lipids, which comes both from fat produced by our bodies and fats from the food we eat.

Total cholesterol This is a measurement of LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and other lipid components.

Doctors measure these components against each other in different ratios:

• Total cholesterol to HDL ratio,
• LDL to HDL ratio,
• HDL to LDL ratio.

People in the medical community have varying opinions about the usefulness of calculating these ratios. They also disagree somewhat on which ratio is the most useful for evaluating the risk of heart disease or heart attack.

The ratio of total cholesterol to HDL is generally considered to be a good barometer. You get this number by dividing your high-density lipoprotein (HDL, or "good") cholesterol into your total cholesterol.

The goal is to keep the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL below 5:1.

The higher the ratio, the greater the risk of heart problems.

But your doctor will not only look at your cholesterol ratios in this way. He or she will want to know the absolute numbers. This is because your levels of both "good" and "bad" cholesterol affect your heart disease risk.You doctor will recommend treatment options that are designed to improve both.

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