Why test HDL?
Measures the amount of cholesterol carried by high-density lipoprotein (HDL) particles in the blood.
Too much cholesterol in your blood can cause fatty material to build up in your artery walls. This can lead to a heart attack or stroke. This can happen if a piece of the fatty material breaks off, causing a blood clot to form, which might block an artery. If this happens in an artery supplying your heart, this is a heart attack, or if it’s an artery supplying your brain, this is a stroke.
However, HDL particles remove excess cholesterol from the body. Hence, having a high level of cholesterol carried by HDL particles is generally good, and HDL cholesterol is often termed ‘good’ cholesterol.
However, very high levels of HDL may behave more like LDL cholesterol (or ‘bad cholesterol’) and raise the risk of disease, according to current research. This is especially important for women leading up to and after menopause.