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Wednesday January 7, 2009
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Coronary Artery Disease / Cholesterol & Lipids
Page: 2
The following tables classify lipid levels. Where information is not otherwise specified, refer to the column for "Desireable for general population"
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Blood Lipids
Measured |
Desirable for those with heart disease |
Desirable for general population |
Borderline High |
High |
Very High |
Total Cholesterol
(mg/dl) |
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less than 200 |
200 - 239 |
240 or more |
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| LDL Cholesterol (mg/dl) |
less than 100 |
less than 130 |
130 - 159 |
160 or more |
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| HDL Cholesterol (mg/dl) |
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35 or more |
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| Triglycerides (mg/dl) |
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less than 200 |
200 - 400 |
400 - 1000 |
1000 or more |
A word about cholesterol ratios:
It is more useful to evaluate the specific cholesterol numbers. However, cholesterol is sometimes expressed as a ratio of total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol. The total cholesterol value is divided by the HDL cholesterol value to obtain the number. The goal is to keep the ratio below 5:1 (5 to 1).
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Example |
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If the total cholesterol is 180 and the HDL cholesterol is 40
then the ratio would be 4.5.
180 / 40 = 4.5
The ratio is expressed as 4.5 to 1 or 4.5:1.
This example meets desirable ratio criteria |
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