Lipid profile

Your body needs cholesterol for some body functions, but too much total cholesterol can lead to heart disease.

Your diabetes assessment visit includes a complete lipid profile, which measures total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol (high-density lipoprotein cholesterol), LDL cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol) and triglycerides.

Total cholesterol is the number that most people know, measuring HDL and LDL cholesterol. For a complete picture of your cholesterol status, you need to know more.

• HDL cholesterol is considered "good" because it carries cholesterol out of the arteries, which helps protect you against heart disease.
• LDL cholesterol often is called "bad" cholesterol. It can stick to the walls of your blood vessels and make the opening in the vessels smaller and harder for blood to flow through. It is very important to maintain healthy LDL levels. Sometimes medication is needed to do this.
• Triglycerides are fats found in food and made by the body. High triglyceride levels tend to go up when blood glucose levels are high, which increases your heart disease risk.

 After your cholesterol test, you will receive the results and recommended actions to help keep your cholesterol and triglyceride levels healthy.

For more information about the diabetes assessment service, call International Diabetes Center at 952-993-3393 or toll-free at 1-888-825-6315.