Can anyone help me make sense of my cholesterol results please?

[BananasAreEvil]

Of course I'll talk to the GP but right now I can't even get through.

Serum cholesterol should, ideally, be below 5
HDL is good cholesterol that helps protect the heart, above 1.2 is good (according to our lab reference range) so you have a good store of good cholesterol which they may feel outweighs the total cholesterol being slightly raised . The ratio -anything below 4.5 is good.

Some good info here
www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/risk-factors/high-cholesterol

Thank you so much, that's helpful. How can I find out if my high cholesterol is genetic? By modifying my diet and seeing what happens? A few weeks before the blood tests I was on the keto diet, barely eating carbs and probably eating too much cheese. I no longer eat cheese, I don't drink, I don't eat saturated fats or processed food. I am menopausal and a bit overweight.

I have familial hypercholesterolaemia, and my serum cholesterol is 9 at the moment if that helps as a comparison.

Your high cholesterol won’t be genetic. It’s only mildly high, which is probably due to lifestyle. If you had familial hypercholesterolaemia, it would be very high. I’ve had high cholesterol my whole life (even as a child) for no obvious reason, healthy weight, vegetarian for 20 years and even mine oddly isn’t genetic. Particularly if you have high HDL, it tends be on the higher side but that isn’t a bad thing. Cholesterol, particularly HDL, can be quite protective and can be good for your heart.

Another way of finding out it is genetic is asking relatives if they have had unexplained high cholesterol. My mum's side of the family are all very slim, fit and eat healthily, but have crazy cholesterol which is how they initially identified it for testing.

I would say with your score it is very unlikely as the PP said.

@BananasAreEvil drs advise consistent dietary changes for around 3 months before retesting cholesterol so it will take a while for the effects of reducing your cheese consumption are shown.
We had someone doing keto - their cholesterol went from totally normal range to 13 in a very short space of time