What does my cholesterol ratio mean?
Answered by the AskDoc Medical Team · Medically reviewed under our Medical Director, MBBS
The common ratio divides total cholesterol by HDL, the protective kind. Below about 4.5 is reassuring; lower is better. It packs two numbers into one signal of risk.
Doctors increasingly look at non-HDL cholesterol or ApoB as well, and at the whole picture: blood pressure, sugar, smoking, family history. A ratio is a clue, not a verdict.
Enter your panel into the calculator, then take the questions it raises to your own doctor rather than a supplement aisle.
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