Cholesterol is a waxy, fat-like substance that’s found in your blood and every cell of your body. You need some cholesterol to keep your cells and organs healthy. Your liver makes all the cholesterol your body needs. But you can also get cholesterol from the foods you eat, especially meat, eggs, poultry, and dairy products. Foods that are high in dietary fat can also make your liver produce more cholesterol. There are two main types of cholesterol: low-density lipoprotein LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein HDL, or “good” cholesterol. A cholesterol test is a blood test that measures the amount of each type of cholesterol and certain fats in your blood. Too much LDL cholesterol in your blood may put you at risk for heart disease and other serious conditions. High LDL levels can cause the build-up of plaque, a fatty substance that narrows the arteries and blocks blood from flowing normally.
A discussion with your doctor can help to determine whether an advanced cholesterol test will be beneficial for you. For most people, there is no advantage to tests that measure cholesterol and triglyceride particle size. The familiar serum lipid profile cholesterol test, which measures blood levels of total cholesterol, HDL good cholesterol, LDL bad cholesterol, and triglycerides, has been getting some bad press lately. Advertising and media reports on “advanced lipoprotein testing” say the current test—a mainstay of cardiovascular screening for decades—falls short in identifying everyone at risk for heart disease. Manufacturers claim that newer tests, which give more detailed information about the size and quantity of subtypes of cholesterol and triglyceride particles, flag risks that the older tests don’t measure. Despite such claims for advanced testing, the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology still back the standard cholesterol test. Jorge Plutzky, director of the vascular disease prevention program at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital, agrees.
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