Your doctor says everything looks fine, but you still feel terrible. The problem might not be your health but how labs define “normal.” Understanding the difference between normal and optimal could ...

High cholesterol causes plaque build-up that can block arteries and lead to a greater risk of heart disease, heart attack, or stroke. If you want to keep your heart healthy, it's important to ...

Cholesterol is measured with a simple blood test called a lipid panel or lipid profile. Lipids are fats and fatty substances, which include cholesterol, that you carry in your bloodstream to be used ...

People whose LDL cholesterol is in the normal range—even those without metabolic risk factors—may yet have levels of apolipoprotein B (apoB) that predict an elevated risk of future atherosclerotic ...

Whether significant reductions in LDL cholesterol and serum triglyceride levels will lead to significant reductions in coronary mortality when starting lipid values are "normal" is a multifaceted ...

Laboratory reference ranges reflect methods, populations, and policies, and experienced clinicians interpret them in context ...

Labs calculate normal by testing everyone who walks through the door, including patients with undiagnosed conditions and chronic diseases. The middle 95 percent becomes the reference range, whether ...