Step 1 What Are Your Cholesterol Levels - Your Personal Risks And Goals: Heart Disease
Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School
Step 1: What are your cholesterol levels?
The NCEP guidelines recommend that all adults ages 20 and over have a fasting lipid profile (also known as a lipoprotein analysis) every five years. Total cholesterol, the first test that was usually given in the past, isn't enough. The more comprehensive fasting lipid profile measures not only total cholesterol, but also LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides. Each of these is an independent risk factor for heart disease (for the NCEP guidelines, see Table 1).
This test requires fasting. You shouldn't eat for 9–12 hours or drink alcoholic beverages for 24 hours beforehand. If you do eat, and the results show that your total cholesterol is 200 mg/dL or greater — or that your HDL is under 40 mg/dL — you'll need to return another day after fasting to have the test again.
| Last updated: | May 03, 2007 |
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Medical content reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School. Harvard Health Publications, Copyright © 2007 by President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Used with permission of StayWell.
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