Most of the cholesterol in your blood stream will be in LDL particles, or low density lipoprotein particles.
LDL, or ‘bad’ cholesterol carries the cholesterol to the tissues in your body. Cholesterol needs to be taken to the cells in your body and the LDL particles carry it there, where it enters the cell membrane. The LDL actually ‘dissolves’ once it’s inside your cells and that’s how the cholesterol is actually deposited within the cells themselves.
Since your cells need some cholesterol to function, why then is LDL called ‘bad’?
The problem isn’t with LDL particles as such, but with an excess of cholesterol in the bloodstream. If you have too much cholesterol then LDL levels are high and instead of being taken up and used by your body’s cells, some of the exess can ‘leak’ through the arteries.
In turn that can start the process that leads to plaque build-up and eventually arterial disease.
With increasing LDL to HDL ratio comes a higher risk of CHD (coronary heart disease). When you have a blood cholesterol test you’ll usually get a total overall number, but the ratio between LDL and HDL is important to get the true picture.