By now everyone is familiar with cholesterol and its role in cardiovascular health. It is important to realize, however, that while a high cholesterol is an important risk factor, it is not the only one. Many people hospitalized for a heart attack have normal cholesterol levels. Therefore, there are many other contributing factors to cardiovascular disease. Total cholesterol is made up of HDL (the good) and LDL (the bad). A key marker to assess is the cardiovascular risk