And with the Food and Drug Administration's approval of the first home test to measure cholesterol, slated for early next year, the market is expected to burgeon.

Others may choose to routinely measure only total cholesterol and HDL levels.

At the study's start and end, the researchers measured height, weight, heart rate, blood pressure, blood glucose, cholesterol, and other factors.

He developed a method for measuring cholesterol in blood plasma, which was known as the "Sperry method" and used as a worldwide standard for 20 years.

A simple cholesterol test can measure total cholesterol and HDL.

However, other indicators measuring cholesterol such as high total/HDL cholesterol ratio are more predictive than total serum cholesterol.

For the study, which is published in the journal Neurology, researchers used blood tests to measure cholesterol in 147 Japanese adults 10 to 15 years before their deaths.

Although current tests can quickly measure total cholesterol, determining the relative concentration of each form remains a laborious process that requires a series of laboratory steps.

Mr. Dworkin said that "one of the most difficult challenges is how to accurately measure the effects of the 'big three' coronary risk factors: smoking, blood pressure and cholesterol."

Get a checkup that includes measuring your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar and make appointments for routine screenings such as mammograms.