cardiologynot wrote:
The printout from my doctor says the following are "normal" ranges:
triglycerides - normal range 0-150 mg/dL (mine=40)
HDL (good cholesterol) - normal range >40 mg/DL (mine=62)
LDL (bad cholesterol) - normal range 0-99 mg/DL (mine=88)
cholesterol - normal range 100-200 mg/dL (mine=158)
Are these "normal" ranges equally applicable for runners? I am 50 and have been running for 35 years (mostly 20-40 mpw).
Is it correct to say that you always want HDL to be high and that you want LDL and triglycerides to be low? Or is that an oversimplification?
I thought maybe my HDL number would be better from all that exercise.
Thanks letsrun.
Your numbers are all obviously good, what is your worry? What is your question. 60 and above is considered good for hdl, why did you expect some astronomically high number? Exercise is good for hdl, but there are limits.
Your numbers are about perfect, why on earth are you asking about them....except to brag??
(FYI: I put more stock in a low ldl or low non-hdl cholesterol # than a high hdl. People with genetically high hdl, or hdl # raised by drugs don't have improved CVD risk. People with genetically high ldl drop dead without interventions. Seriously. hdl is a marker for good CVD risk, but may not actually be doing anything for you. High ldl is almost certainly hurting you. But this is neither here nor there for you, because your #"s are excellent across the board)