What Is Oxidized Cholesterol?
8. How Do You Get Your Cholesterol Levels Checked?
The test for cholesterol requires a fasting blood draw, which means you should not eat for nine to twelve hours before having your blood taken. Many walk-in clinics and pharmacies can do the test, although they may not have results as extensive as those from your regular doctor. You can also purchase a kit to test your cholesterol at home. Besides privacy, another perk to at-home tests is that you will know your results immediately, as opposed to waiting one to three days for results from a doctor’s office.
A full lipid panel will provide results on each kind of cholesterol, measured in the number of milligrams of cholesterol per deciliter of blood. Total blood cholesterol should be below 200 milligrams/deciliter, and above 240 is considered high. Triglycerides should be less than 150, and levels above 200 are high. HDL should be around 60, and anything less than 40 is considered too low. LDL should be less than 100, and anything over 160 is too high. No specific test exists for VLDL cholesterol, but levels can be approximated based on triglycerides
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