Cholesterol forms the basis of steroid hormones such as testosterone and progesterone (sex hormones), cortisol (for stress adaptation), and vitamin D (for healthy bones). It also helps to build and maintain health cell membranes, ant the insulating sheath around nerve fibres which act like “broadband”, speeding nerve signals to and from the brain. Also, the liver uses cholesterol to make bile salts that help digest food more effectively.
The only way to establish your exact cholesterol profile is by having a blood test – often called a lipid profile. Lipid is a collective term for fats in the blood, and a blood test can tell you how much cholesterol is present, and what type.
A random blood test can measure total and HDL cholesterol levels. A fasting blood test (where of fast for at least 12 hours beforehand, drinking nothing but water) can measure LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels in addition, giving a more comprehensive picture.
Cholesterol is measured in “mmols”, a measurement of cholesterol concentration in each litre of blood (mmol/L). This is a world standard unit for measuring cholesterol except in the USA, where the preferred measurement is the weight of cholesterol in each 100ml of blood (mg/dL).
(LDL = bad cholesterol, HDL = good cholesterol)
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