Cholesterol levels at times can prove very hard to crack. This article gives you an insight of some of the most common cholesterol level charts and how you can effectively use them to check your cholesterol levels. The charts are a recommendation of the National Cholesterol Education Program in conjunction with the American Heart Association. They will clearly help you to identify it your cholesterol levels are risk or you are at the optimum required level.

LDL cholesterol

LDL is an abbreviation of low density lipoprotein. It is in most medical applications referred to as bad cholesterol. LDL type of cholesterol tends to build up in the arteries thus making then to be very narrow thus inhibiting the flow of blood. It is a major causative agent of high blood pressure. This condition also exposes someone to the risk of stroke.

HDL cholesterol

HDL stands for high density lipoprotein. It is also termed to as the good cholesterol. Unlike the LDL cholesterol which blocks the blood vessels, the HDL type of cholesterol helps to scour these blood passages thus making blood to flow easily. The HDL graph is as shown below

Triglycerides

Triglycerides (TG) are at times confused with cholesterol. I will however tell you that these are two totally different aspects. The TG is also a variant of fat that is found in the body. You will probably get the test for TG in conjunction with your normal cholesterol level tests. TG increases the likelihood of blood clot. It therefore aggravates the possible risks of stroke and heart attack. TG is also known to significantly reduce the HDL or good cholesterol levels in the system. The figure below shows the chart for TG levels.

Total cholesterol

Abbreviated as TC, total cholesterol refers a combination of HDL, LDL and VDL all added together. The chart below depicts this clearly.