What exactly do cholesterol levels mean?

What do cholesterol levels mean?

• Answer:

  Roughly speaking, a higher http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cholesterol level, especially LDL("bad")-cholesterol, that is the cholesterol contained in the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LDL_cholesterol level is associated with higher risk of cardiovascular disease and death. But so is a very low cholesterol level, since cholesterol is a vital part of cell membranes in the body, and low cholesterol levels could be a sign of a serious disease. Being older and more obese correlates with a higher total and LDL-cholesterol level. This is shown in these graphs: This graph shows the total and the cardiovascular mortality related to cholesterol levels in men (not for stroke though), can't find such graph for women. The Norwegian HUNT 2 study http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2753.2011.01767.x/pdf seem to show that in women the optimal total cholesterol level is between 5,0 to 6,9 mmol/L, so lower mortality than a total cholesterol level of under 5 mmol/L (divide by 0,0259 to calculate the mg/dl value as usually used in the US)