high triglyceride level | Wellness Secrets of a SuperAger

I have a page on The Dangers of a Big Waistline.

Forty-four percent of U.S. adults 50 and over have metabolic syndrome, a cluster of interrelated health issues that increases risk for heart attack, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. It also raises the risk of poor immune function and severe disease due to viral infections. The good news is, metabolic syndrome can be reversed, according to the Tufts Health & Nutrition Letter.

Metabolic Syndrome: A large waistline, high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, and high fasting blood sugar are all part of metabolic syndrome (see Metabolic Risk Factors for more information).An astounding 88 percent of U.S. adults age 20 and older have at least one of these conditions. Each component on its own increases risk for health problems, but together, risk is even greater.

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Regular readers know that I am a senior citizen and work at keeping up on my health. I get blood work done at least once a year and sometimes more often. This week was one of those times, so I thought it might help you to understand your cholesterol number more if I went over mine.

Here are my numbers from Tuesday.
CHOLESTEROL
197 Standard Range 0 – 200 mg/dL
TRIGLYCERIDES
46 Standard Range 50 – 150 mg/dL
HDL CHOLESTEROL
85 Standard Range >=40 mg/dL
LDL CHOL (CALC)
103 Standard Range 0 – 100 mg/dL
Non-HDL Cholesterol
112 Standard Range 0 – 130 mg/dL

As you can see from the standard ranges offered, I am on the high side for total cholesterol, but the main reason is that my HDL cholesterol – the good cholesterol – is so high.
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