Dum Da Dum Dum -- My Blood Work Is In

After expressing my concern about my cholesterol level the other day with a doctor friend of mine from church, I anxiously awaited the test results of my blood work that I had done at a health fair at my job a couple of weeks ago. They arrived on Monday.

Dum da dum dum!

As you can see from the blood work sheets above, every area of my blood was considered in the normal range except for three specific points:

TOTAL CHOLESTEROL
HDL
LDL

My total cholesterol is 201, which is considered right on the border of being too high according to what doctors are saying it should be. But my HDL was unusually high according to the standards of "normal" at 71 while my LDL at 119 is considered higher than "normal" again by doctor's standards.

But one of my blog friends reminded me that I should be looking at the ratio of HDL to LDL which is VERY good. Also, LDL levels above 100 mg/dL are only negative factors on your health if you are already at risk. Here is some information that you might find useful when looking at your own numbers:

Target = Less than or equal to 100mg/dL
CHD (coronary heart disease) risk equivalent = presence of clinical atherosclerotic disease that confers high risk for CHD events:
Clinical CHD
Symptomatic carotid artery disease
Peripheral arterial disease
Abdominal aortic aneurysm
Diabetes
Two or more risk factors with >20% risk for CHD (or myocardial infarction or CHD death) within 10 years

Target = Less than 130mg/dL - if you have two or more of these risk factors:
Cigarette smoking
High blood pressure (140/90 mmHg or higher or on blood pressure medication)
Low HDL blood cholesterol (less than 40 mg/dL)
Family history of early heart disease (heart disease in father or brother before age 55; heart disease in mother or sister before age 65)
Age (men 45 years or older; women 55 years or older)

Target = Less than 160mg/dL - zero or one of the above risk factors

All in all, I am very pleased with the outcome of my blood work. Livin' la vida low-carb has brought me better health than I could have ever imagined. It can happen for you, too!