Totally useless number?

[Elffriend]

I had an appointment with my oncologist last week and since I needed other blood work I asked her to run a cholesterol test as well. I got the results today. They only checked total cholesterol. I don't have a break down of HDL, LDL and Tri. My total is 166. Does that really tell me anything useful?

[ldatkins]

Its better to have all the numbers. But 166 overall would usually be pretty good unless your HDL and LDL are the opposite of what they should be.

Call the doctor's office back. I believe anytime they run that test they get all the numbers. I am sure if it was out of wack they would of told you. However, it is always good to know the numbers.

[Elffriend]

Thanks. The nurse had all my results in front of her and the only result for cholesterol was the total. This is my first time having blood work done in Canada, so I am wondering if they just do things differently?