Lipid disorders, especially blood cholesterol disorders, are very common diseases today, and the trend is increasing. Blood cholesterol disorders cause many serious diseases, especially cardiovascular diseases such as myocardial infarction, stroke, etc. High levels of LDL-Cholesterol (low-density cholesterol or bad fat) are widely known to be bad, while many people still do not fully understand HDL-Cholesterol, so what does a high HDL-Cholesterol index in the blood mean?

1. What is HDL-Cholesterol?

HDL-Cholesterol stands for High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol, which means high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. One of the types of lipoproteins synthesized in the liver and has the function of transporting cholesterol in the blood.

HDL-Cholesterol has an important function of transporting excess cholesterol from tissues, organs, and blood vessels to the liver for processing. In the liver, cholesterol will be metabolized and excreted from the body. Therefore, HDL-Cholesterol reduces cholesterol accumulation in the blood and in tissues. This is the reason it is called good fat.

HDL-Cholesterol is considered good fat in the blood that helps clean blood vessels and tissues in the body.

2. What does a high HDL-Cholesterol index in the blood mean?

If a high LDL-Cholesterol index in the blood brings many worries, increasing the risk of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, a high HDL-Cholesterol index in the blood has the opposite meaning.

2.1. Normal HDL-Cholesterol index in the blood

Normal HDL-Cholesterol concentration in the blood is about 40-50 mg/dL (1.0-1.3 mmol/L) in men and about 50-59 mg/dl (1.3-1.5 mmol/L) in women. Normally, the body has self-regulating mechanisms to ensure that HDL-Cholesterol concentration is stable at a certain level.

2.2. What does a high HDL-Cholesterol index in the blood mean?

Thanks to its function of transporting excess cholesterol from tissues, especially blood vessels, to the liver for metabolism and excretion, HDL-Cholesterol is considered a very important factor in protecting the vascular wall from agents that cause atherosclerosis, which is the main cause of dangerous cardiovascular events such as: cerebral infarction, myocardial infarction…

Blood HDL-Cholesterol concentration < 40 mg/dl increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases

Blood HDL-Cholesterol concentration < 40 mg/dl increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

With a concentration threshold from 40 mg/dl to 59 mg/dl, the higher the HDL-Cholesterol concentration, the better the cardiovascular protection effect, when increasing each 4mg/dl of HDL-Cholesterol, the risk of cardiovascular diseases is reduced by 10%.
Blood HDL-Cholesterol concentration is considered high when > 60 mg/dl (equivalent to 1.55 mmol/l). This concentration means reducing the rate of cardiovascular events; according to the American Heart Association, this is the concentration threshold that has a protective effect against cardiovascular diseases.

Very high HDL-Cholesterol concentration (> 90 mg/dl) is very rare, mainly found in patients with genetic diseases or metabolic disorders, so it is noted that it also increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Therefore, a high HDL-Cholesterol index in the blood is basically good for health, reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases. However, attention should also be paid when the HDL-Cholesterol index is abnormally high.