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LDL-C: What Your Bad Cholesterol Number Means
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?
Low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), commonly known as "bad" cholesterol, plays a key role in transporting cholesterol from the liver to tissues throughout the body. When there is too much LDL-C in the blood, it can deposit in the walls of arteries in a process called atherosclerosis. Over time plaques can form that narrow and harden the arteries which increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular diseases.
Why it matters
The Global Burden of Disease study ranked high LDL-C levels as the third-highest contributor to cardiovascular disease globally, with 4.4 million deaths attributed to high LDL-C levels in 2019. Additionally, cumulative exposure to high LDL-C over time is particularly harmful, highlighting the importance of early detection and intervention. Managing LDL-C levels proactively is critical to reducing cardiovascular risk.
Reference ranges
The Canadian Cardiovascular Society recommends aiming for LDL-C levels of less than 3.5 mmol/L in the general population, however, for 40-75 year olds who have a high risk of cardiovascular disease, or who have previously had a heart attack of stroke, they recommend aiming for less than 2 mmol/L. In practice, this usually requires the use of cholesterol-lowering medications such as statins.
Ryou IS, Kim JY, Park HY, Oh S, Kim S, Kim HJ. Do statins benefit low-risk population for primary prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease: A retrospective cohort study. Frontiers in Medicine [Internet]. 2022 Nov 3;9. Available from: https://doi.org/10.3389/fmed.2022.1024780
Roth, Gregory A., et al. "Global burden of cardiovascular diseases and risk factors, 1990–2019: update from the GBD 2019 study." Journal of the American college of cardiology 76.25 (2020): 2982-3021.
Canadian Cardiovascular Society. 2021 Dyslipidemia - Canadian Cardiovascular Society [Internet]. Canadian Cardiovascular Society. 2023. Available from: https://ccs.ca/app/uploads/2022/07/2022-Lipids-Gui-PG-EN.pdf
Arnett DK, Blumenthal RS, Albert MA, Buroker AB, Goldberger ZD, Hahn EJ, et al. 2019 ACC/AHA Guideline on the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease: A report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Task Force on Clinical Practice - Guidelines. Circulation [Internet]. 2019 Sep 10;140(11). Available from: https://doi.org/10.1161/cir.0000000000000678
Rong S, Li B, Chen L, Sun Y, Du Y, Liu B, et al. Association of Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Levels with More than 20-Year Risk of Cardiovascular and All-Cause Mortality in the General Population. Journal of the American Heart Association [Internet]. 2022 Aug 2;11(15). Available from: https://doi.org/10.1161/jaha.121.023690'
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.
