Explore the landscape · HDL × total cholesterol

HDL × total cholesterol

Very high HDL is not protective here: at total cholesterol 200, hazard is 1.3× at HDL 90 against 1.0× at HDL 50. Higher total cholesterol goes with lower hazard when HDL is high, a pattern usually attributed to illness lowering cholesterol rather than cholesterol protecting.

Mortality hazard1.00× reference

HDL: 50
Total cholesterol: 193
Within data: yes

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Hazard relative to the reference, by contour band.

Cox model with restricted cubic splines and a HDL × Total cholesterol interaction (likelihood-ratio p = 3×10⁻⁵), adjusted for age and sex. NHANES 1999–2018 with linked mortality to 2019; 48,495 adults, 7,048 deaths. Hazards are associations. The age path joins population medians by age band (NHANES 2017–18), which is cross-sectional and does not follow one person.

How to read it

Colour shows all-cause mortality hazard relative to the reference point, from a Cox model fitted on 48,495 adults with 7,048 deaths. Each contour band is one step on the scale beside the map. Hatched areas hold too few people to estimate.

The interaction test asks whether the two markers combine differently from the sum of their separate effects (likelihood-ratio p = 3×10⁻⁵). Use Copy link to this view to share the exact position you are looking at.

Biomarker pages: HDL Cholesterol · Total Cholesterol.