What is HDL cholesterol?
HDL cholesterol is often known as ‘good cholesterol’ because it helps to protect your heart and blood vessels from disease. It’s essential for good health, but it can sometimes be too high or too low, which can lead to problems with your heart health.
High HDL cholesterol
Low HDL cholesterol
Healthy HDL cholesterol
HDL stands for high density lipoprotein
Lipoproteins are little parcels of lipids (fats) and proteins, which transport fats around the body in the blood.
HDL cholesterol contains a lot of protein and relatively little fat. This means it’s very dense, which is why it’s called ‘high density’ lipoprotein.
HDL cholesterol is one of the five main types of lipoprotein. It carries about a quarter of the cholesterol in your blood. Most of the rest is carried in LDL (low density lipoprotein) cholesterol, sometimes called ‘bad cholesterol’ as it can lead to heart disease.
What are the main roles of HDL cholesterol?
HDL cholesterol has a protective role against diseases of the heart and blood vessels such as heart attacks and strokes. The cholesterol itself is a fat, so it’s not the cholesterol that is protective, but the HDL lipoprotein as a whole.
HDL has three main effects
- It removes excess cholesterol (fat) from the blood vessels and other tissues and returns it to the liver to be recycled or removed from the body.
- It has an anti-inflammatory effect, which helps protect the artery walls against LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol).
- It has an anti-oxidant effect, which helps protect cells and important chemicals in the blood and tissues from being broken down.
What are healthy HDL cholesterol levels?
Healthy HDL cholesterol levels are different for men and women. Young boys and girls have similar HDL levels, but in boys, HDL levels fall after puberty and remain lower throughout their lives.
- For women, HDL levels above 1.2mmol/L are thought to be healthy.
- For men, HDL levels above 1.1mmol/L are thought to be healthy.
HEART UK’s specialists believe that HDL is at its most protective at around 1.3-1.4mmol/L, and higher levels might not offer any extra protection.
Note that if you have high LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) and your doctor is considering treatment to lower it, high HDL levels are not a reason to avoid treatment.
Find out your HDL cholesterol levels with a simple cholesterol test
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How high is too high?
In the past, studies showed that lower HDL levels raise the risk of diseases of the blood vessels, while high HDL levels were protective. They suggested that the lower the HDL, the higher the risk of serious events such as heart attack and stroke, and the higher the HDL, the lower the risk. This would mean that raising HDL would lower the risk of illness.
More recent research suggests that HDL levels above 1.4mmol/L may not offer extra protection. In some cases, very high HDL could even raise the risk of serious problems such as a heart attack or stroke.
Some studies also suggest that for people with high LDL cholesterol which is now well-controlled, raising your HDL with medicines does not lower the risk of serious problems such as heart attacks.
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Home / Blog / Heart Health / What Is the Difference Between Good and Bad Cholesterol?
Heart Health
Originally published July 11, 2017
Last reviewed September 1, 2022
Reading Time: 2 minutes
Cholesterol — a waxy substance that builds in the arteries — is not completely harmful, despite its reputation for being bad for you. In fact, some of it can even improve your health when consumed in the right amounts.
The physicians at the USC Cardiac and Vascular Institute at Keck Medicine of USC can measure your good cholesterol and bad cholesterol levels, and help you adopt healthier eating and living habits so you can achieve the best balance of both.
What are the different types of cholesterol?
Triglycerides make up the third component of cholesterol and act as unused calories that are stored as fat in the blood. Eating more calories than you burn can cause triglycerides to build up in the bloodstream, increasing your risk for heart attacks.
Understanding your numbers
More than one-third of Americans suffer from high LDL cholesterol, so it’s important to see your physician to learn your cholesterol counts — or the amount of cholesterol in your blood — and closely monitor them. Your physician will perform a simple blood test and check your other risk factors to find your counts.
An LDL count of 100 or less is considered healthy. Your HDL count should be at least 40 (or 50 if you’re female) or greater. Healthy triglyceride counts are 150 or less. Your “numbers,” or total HDL and LDL cholesterol plus triglycerides, should add up to no more than 200. If your numbers are higher than 200, check with your physician — you may have a higher HDL count, which is not unhealthy.
Keep your cholesterol counts under control
Maintaining healthy levels of cholesterol is manageable. Medication is key, along with eating a healthy diet with lots of vegetables and getting regular exercise.
Topics
cardiovascular disease
cholesterol
high-density lipoprotein (HDL)
low-density lipoprotein (LDL)