Cholesterol cargo and cell building
Biomarker library
Heart Health
Total cholesterol
Total cholesterol is all the cholesterol carried in your blood: in LDL, in HDL and in the triglyceride-rich particles, added together.
Measured in your health assessment, with a doctor to explain your result. Book yours
Why it matters
Cholesterol is not a villain. Every cell membrane needs it, and it is the raw material for vitamin D, bile and hormones such as oestrogen and testosterone. The problem is excess cholesterol carried in LDL and similar particles, which can lodge in artery walls. Total cholesterol alone can mislead, because a high HDL raises it too.
What a result can mean
Lower than the range
Low cholesterol is usually healthy, reflecting diet, fitness or cholesterol-lowering treatment. Unexpectedly low levels can occasionally come from an overactive thyroid, liver disease or poor nutrition.
Higher than the range
A higher total is usually driven by LDL, through genes, diet, weight, an underactive thyroid or the menopause. Very high levels, for example above 7.5 mmol/L, especially with early heart disease in the family, can point to familial hypercholesterolaemia, an inherited condition affecting about 1 in 250 people.
What can help
Cutting saturated fat (fatty meat, butter, cheese, coconut oil), eating more fibre from oats, beans and lentils, staying active and keeping to a healthy weight all lower cholesterol. Whether a statin is offered depends on your overall cardiovascular risk, not on the cholesterol number alone.
Read it with
NoteGeneral educational illustration. Colours, sizes and movement are simplified. This is not a scan or a simulation of your body. General information, not personal medical advice: a doctor reads your own results with your history.
Know your total cholesterol.
Measured in your health assessment and explained by the doctor who reviews your results.