Total Cholesterol
Total Serum Cholesterol
Total cholesterol measures the combined cholesterol in several types of particles, including LDL and HDL. Your body needs cholesterol, but this total alone cannot tell you how much is being carried by each type.
Try your Total Cholesterol result.
A quick one-marker check. Vita can score it better once it sees the full lab report around it.
What does a high total cholesterol result mean?
The total can rise because LDL is high, HDL is high, or both. Those situations do not mean the same thing. LDL, non-HDL cholesterol and your medical history are more useful for deciding what to do next.
How high is your total cholesterol?
- Desirable
- Below 200 mg/dL (about 5.2 mmol/L)
- Borderline high
- 200–239 mg/dL (about 5.2–6.2 mmol/L)
- High
- 240 mg/dL or more (about 6.2 mmol/L or more)
These general adult categories describe the total cholesterol result. Read them alongside LDL, HDL and triglycerides: a desirable total does not guarantee that each component is in a suitable range.
Sources: MedlinePlus (NIH)
What can change this result?
What can raise it
- Eating a lot of saturated fat, which can raise LDL cholesterol.
- Inherited differences in how your body handles cholesterol.
- Higher HDL can also raise the total, so check which part changed.
What can help when LDL is high
- Replacing some saturated fat with unsaturated fats, such as olive oil and nuts.
- Adding soluble fiber from oats, beans and lentils.
- Cholesterol medicines if your clinician recommends them.
The aim is to reduce harmful cholesterol and heart risk. A lower total is not automatically better if it fell because HDL dropped.
What should I do next?
- Find the LDL, HDL and triglyceride results on the same report.
- Ask about your overall cardiovascular risk before making treatment decisions from this total.
- Bring previous results so your clinician can see whether the pattern has changed.
How this test works
A lipid panel separates the total into measurements that describe different particles. Two people can have the same total cholesterol and very different LDL and HDL results.