... Back on my feet again ...

Posted on Saturday, January 19, 2008 at 02:29 in medical info

I got my cholesterol bloodwork results in the mail today. It wasn't bad exactly, but it wasn't great either. Here are my results:

total cholesterol - 200 (should be 200 or less, so I'm almost over the top)

HDL (the good stuff) - 49 (considered a healthy level, but desirable is above 60) ... need to improve this one

LDL (the bad stuff) - 132 (borderline high is 130-159, so not so great here)

VLDL (some more bad stuff) - 19 (normal is 6-40), but I read this online "Your VLDL level is considered safe if it plus your LDL level are no higher together than 130 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL)." Oops ... I'm at 151, so that's high, most likely due to my LDL levels.

Triglycerides - 97 (normal is 35-200, so doing ok here!)

Chol/HDL ratio (this is a better indicator for heart disease than all of the other stuff above!) - 4.1 which puts me just over the top as I should be less than 4.0

Here is some more info that I found online about what I need to do next:

How to Increase HDL	How to Decrease LDL
(Good Guys)	(Bad Guys)
Exercise Cessation of smoking Weight reduction	Decrease saturated fat intake Maintain good body composition Increase dietary fiber Increase aerobic exercise

All in all, I'm ok with this report. I know where my weaknesses lie and it is more motivation for me to get on that treamill most mornings and get my cardio in. I am also reminded that I need to watch my intake of fat and fiber better . I'll have my bloodwork redone about a year from now and see where I am at then.