What is considered a ‘healthy’ cholesterol reading?

Cholesterol 0:38 min watch Published 4 December 2024 Dr Ravi Assomull, Consultant Cardiologist

Healthy cholesterol targets depend on your individual risk profile. In this video, Dr Ravi Assomull explains what cholesterol levels are considered acceptable for different patients.

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Transcript

What's considered a good cholesterol depend on your clinical history. Now unfortunately if you've already had a heart attack or are at high risk for having a heart attack because you're diabetic then actually the level of cholesterol we aim for in your case is going to be much lower than the population at large. However if you're healthy, have no risk factors for cardiac disease and have never had a heart attack then we tend to accept a total cholesterol reading of less than 5 and an HDL or good cholesterol reading of just above 1.2.

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