HDL (High-Density Lipoprotein) in Dehradun

What is a HDL (High-Density Lipoprotein)?

HDL, high-density lipoprotein, is the particle that runs the return journey. Where LDL delivers cholesterol out to the tissues, HDL collects surplus cholesterol, including from the walls of arteries, and carries it back to the liver for disposal, a process called reverse cholesterol transport. It also has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects on the vessel lining. This is why HDL is the one lipid number you want to be high, and why a low HDL is an independent risk marker even when LDL looks acceptable. One important nuance has emerged in recent years: raising HDL with medication has repeatedly failed to reduce heart attacks in trials, and very high HDL may not be protective either. The current understanding is that HDL functions better as a marker of overall metabolic health than as a target to be pushed upward with drugs. Low HDL commonly travels with high triglycerides, abdominal weight gain and insulin resistance, a cluster that is particularly common in South Asians and that matters more than the HDL figure alone.

Why take this test?

HDL is measured as part of every lipid profile, and it is what allows total cholesterol to be interpreted correctly: a person with a high total cholesterol driven by a high HDL is in a very different position from one whose total is driven by LDL. Check it as a baseline from around age 30, and sooner where heart disease has appeared early in the family. It is particularly informative with diabetes, prediabetes, abdominal obesity, polycystic ovary syndrome or a smoking habit, since all of these lower it. Unlike LDL, HDL responds meaningfully to lifestyle rather than to tablets: regular aerobic exercise, stopping smoking, losing abdominal weight and reducing refined carbohydrate and alcohol are what actually move it. It is therefore a useful number to track when someone is making genuine lifestyle changes and wants evidence they are working.

• Any heart-risk assessment or routine lipid profile
• A high total cholesterol needing correct interpretation
• Diabetes, prediabetes or abdominal obesity
• Smoking, or tracking the benefit after stopping
• Polycystic ovary syndrome or metabolic syndrome
• Following the effect of exercise and weight loss over time

Normal reference ranges

Ranges are indicative for adults. Your report carries the lab-specific reference range and is reviewed by a LabONE pathologist; always interpret results with your doctor.

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