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High
Cholesterol
Total
blood cholesterol is the most common measurement of
blood cholesterol. Knowing your total blood cholesterol
level is an important first step in determining your
risk for heart disease. However, a critical second step
is knowing your HDL ("good") and your LDL
("bad") cholesterol levels.
Your
doctor must interpret your cholesterol numbers based
on other risk factors, such as age, family history,
smoking, high blood pressure, physical inactivity, obesity
and diabetes.
Total
Cholesterol
- Less
than 200 mg/dL - desirable blood cholesterol
- 200
to 239 mg/dl - borderline high blood cholesterol
- 240
mg/dl and over - high blood cholesterol
HDL
Cholesterol
- Less
than 40 mg/dl - low HDL cholesterol
- Greater
than or equal to 60 mg/dl - high HDL cholesterol
These
recommendations are altered in patients with known coronary
heart disease as a "normal" or "desireable"
total cholesterol may be "too high" for such
patients. Cholesterol lowering drugs are commonly prescribed
for such patients.
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