Cholesterol Size: The Heart Attack Risk Factor

Posted on October 3rd, 2007 by admin

What is the size of your cholesterol?

Most people know cholesterol numbers. For example, the optimal number for LDL (or bad cholesterol) is 100. LDL above 160 is considered to be on the high risk factor of heart attack. The optimal number for HDL (good cholesterol) is 60 or more. HDL less than 40 is considered to be on the high risk factor of heart attack.

But not many people know about the cholesterol size. Recent advance in cholesterol testing has helped doctors to accurately predict the chances of a patient to have a heart attack. The test for cholesterol size is known as lipoprotein subfraction test. The diagnostic tool will produce a red warning sign when it finds small LDL and HDL cholesterol particles.

If you have small cholesterol particles and you are prediabetic, you have a high risk of having a heart attack. The smaller the cholesterol particles, the more easily they penetrate into the blood vessels and form damaging plaques.

Even though if you have a small or optimal LDL number, you still can have blockages and heart attack if you have many small cholesterol particles. So make sure you ask your doctor to include this test in your annual checkup. Standard checkup doesn’t include cholesterol particles test. Make sure you request it.

So Who Needs The Cholesterol Particles Test?

You should definitely go for the test if you have the following: