Cardiologist series on cholesterol

"...a photograph of the truth and start treating it as what it is: estimated by a mathematical equation, sometimes useful, sometimes misleading, and sometimes simply nonsense."

I wonder whether the same isn't true of blood pressure; over-reliance on a spot-check of something that is in constant flux throughout the day.

Blood pressure has a lot of research. That said the trick is to measure it correctly, at home at rest, and in clinic at rest.* Correct BP measurements at rest are a goal not always achieved.
*in clinic some patients can't be at "rest" because of anxiety in clinic.
Best wishes

@agb, thanks for sharing this series. The discussion here has me thinking about how much context matters when we look at any one number, whether it be cholesterol or even other measurements like blood pressure that @tallbackhip and @scottrl bring up.

For cholesterol, has anyone had a situation where their doctor looked beyond the standard lipid numbers because they didn’t seem to tell the whole story? What other information or testing helped you and your doctor better understand your cardiovascular risk?

The cardiac Crp test for inflammation is one. The high sensitivity version of the test is another marker that your body is fighting something. It might not be arterial, but if nothing else is found, another risk factor. And another test that has to be specifically requested as it's not part of the standard ones that are usually run.