I have been having a blood test and my cholesterol is too high. what does that mean?

What it says: It means exactly what you said. Your lipids are high and that needs to be addressed. If diet and exercise are not sufficient, then meds are used. High lipids increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Need perspective: The most important thing is the LDL. Send this question again with the exact numbers. Probably you will eventually be on a statin anyway, so recognize that the sooner you start the more you will benefit. Statin meds are easy, cheap, well tolerated, and slow the aging of your arteries. Exercise and low calorie diet with weight reduction is very effective. Especially to avoid red meat. BP? Diabetes?

It depends...: Cholesterol, specifically LDL (bad cholesterol) is one of the risk factors for heart disease. There is also good chol (HDL), which is protective. Then there are triglycerides, a type of bad chol. The total chol, which is often ordered takes all of these into account. From your chol being "too high" depends on what was tested & other risk factors. Need more info to see if tx recommended.

It depends...: This may not be a problem at all. Avoid unnecessary intervention. Total chol. not too useful-need to know not only HDL and LDL but subtypes like small dense LDL. More a concern if you're inflamed (elevated CRP) or have other risk factors. Also, high chol. is often a sign of hypothyroidism. Advise seeing integrative MD and get more tests.See http://tinyurl.com/axtab4d and http://tinyurl.com/9x3n594

Can be serious: I would ignore the emphasis on food choices provided elsewhere and instead focus on the basics. Exercise is probably more helpful. Cholesterol is mostly genetic. Especially if LDL is up, it puts you at risk for atherosclerosis. Depending on which labs are up and how high and what other risk factors you have, you may be offered medication. I'd urge you to take it. It saves lots of lives. Cheers.