Clarilab

Heart and cholesterol

HDL cholesterol test

Also called good cholesterol, HDL-C

The 'good' cholesterol that carries cholesterol away from arteries.

Typical range
40 mg/dL or more (men), 50 or more (women).
Usual recheck
About 6 months when out of range

Why it's done

Part of the lipid profile.

What a low result can mean

Low HDL raises heart risk. Exercise, quitting smoking and weight loss help raise it.

Got a report with HDL cholesterol?

Upload the PDF to Clarilab: it reads the values in your browser, flags anything out of range and tracks your results over time.

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More heart and cholesterol tests

Lipid profileTotal cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides and VLDL. Total cholesterolAll the cholesterol in your blood, good and bad. LDL cholesterolThe 'bad' cholesterol that builds up in artery walls. TriglyceridesA type of fat in the blood, from food and made by the liver. VLDL cholesterolA particle carrying mostly triglycerides; usually calculated as triglycerides ÷ 5. Lipoprotein(a)An inherited cholesterol particle that raises heart risk.