Total Cholesterol Formula?

[prominence]

Total Cholesterol = LDL + HDL + (Triglycerides/5)

Is this the correct formula for total cholesterol, assuming the triglycerides are less than 400 mg/dl?

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[deleted87716]

Total Cholesterol = LDL + HDL + (Triglycerides/5)

Is this the correct formula for total cholesterol, assuming the triglycerides are less than 400 mg/dl?

Not quite. It looks like you may be thinking of the Friedewald equation, which is: [LDL-chol] = [Total chol] - [HDL-chol] - ([TG]/5)

 

[greybeard]

Those two equations are equivalent. Take the Friedewald equation and add HDL + TG/5 to both sides. It is a good approximation and the condition for validity offered is the usual one. The Friedewald form is more useful since the usual measured analytes are TC, HDL-C and TG.

 

[deleted87716]

The Friedewald form is more useful since the usual measured analytes are TC, HDL-C and TG.

Exactly. Of course, we can directly measure LDL nowadays.