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HDL-C: What Good Cholesterol Says About Heart Risk
All NiaHealth tests are processed in Canadian-certified labs, which are highly trusted by the medical community for their accuracy and reliability. Blood and urine samples are collected by licensed medical professionals and processed using state-of-the-art equipment. NiaHealth is SOC2 Type 2 certified.
What is it?
HDL-C, or "good" cholesterol, helps protect against cardiovascular diseases by transporting excess cholesterol from the arteries and other parts of the body back to the liver, where it is either recycled, or excreted. Higher levels of HDL-C — up to a point — are associated with a lower risk of plaque buildup in the arteries, reducing the risk of conditions such as heart disease and stroke.
Why it matters
HDL-C is part of a standard cholesterol (lipid) test used to estimate overall heart and blood vessel (cardiovascular) risk, along with LDL-C and triglycerides. HDL-C is useful for risk prediction, but most treatment decisions focus more on LDL-C, non-HDL-C, or apolipoprotein B (apoB), not on trying to raise HDL-C.
Reference ranges
HDL-C is a 'U-shaped' risk factor: levels that are too low or too high have been linked with higher cardiovascular risk.
Liu, C., Dhindsa, D., Almuwaqqat, Z., Ko, Y.-A., Mehta, A., Alkhoder, A. A., Alras, Z., Desai, S. R., Patel, K. J., Hooda, A., Wehbe, M., Sperling, L. S., Sun, Y. V., & Quyyumi, A. A. (2022). Association between high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels and adverse cardiovascular outcomes in high-risk populations. JAMA Cardiology, 7(7), 672–680.
Rohatgi, A., Khera, A., Berry, J. D., Givens, E. G., Ayers, C. R., Wedin, K. E., Neeland, I. J., Yuhanna, I. S., Rader, D. R., de Lemos, J. A., & Shaul, P. W. (2014). HDL cholesterol efflux capacity and incident cardiovascular events. The New England Journal of Medicine, 371(25), 2383–2393.
This information is educational and does not replace medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Your results should be interpreted with a qualified healthcare professional in the context of your health history.
