The higher the good cholesterol the higher chances that you'll be okay. Currently, it is important to discuss triglycerides for a moment to help explain cardiovascular risk factors. Triglycerides are fats that float around in the blood stream. Let's say that your cholesterol is 201 and your HDL is 40. That's over a five to one ratio and with that the risk of cardiovascular problems is doubled.
Smokers increase the risk of heart disease by a factor of four.
That's really bad. So the big picture is that high cholesterol is bad, and other chemistries contribute to cardiac risk when they are out of balance. For the most part, forget margarine and go back to butter. Butter, sesame oil and olive oil can be heated without creating the dangerous trans fatty, so cook with them when making meals for your family. Eggs are okay unless you cook or fry them in bad oils.