They do free heart health screening where I work, so I had my cholesterol checked this morning after a 12-hour fast. Previously, I had written about the results of my choesterol when I had to have a physical to get insurance. That test showed a dramatic increase in my HDL level (the good choesterol). It said the level had gone from a sickly 29 to a healthy 52. I had my doubts about how accurate that could be. My HDLs have never been near that level.
I was right. While today's results showed an improvement from my test in March, the insurance exam in June was not to be believed. According to what I believe to be the more reliable test, my HDL level is 40, which is the low end of the scale for healthy. Above 40 is desirable, but 60 is even better.
My total cholesterol is 191, down from 204. Under 200 is desirable. My LDL level (bad cholesterol) went from 145 in March to 137 today. Ideally, it should be under 100. My triglyceride levels went down from 146 to 67, which the nurse said was amazing. Idealy, it should be under 150. My ratio of total cholesterol to HDL, which should be less than 5, was 4.7. My glucose level was down from 105 to 99.
Overall, all the salmom, oatmeal, and exercise does seem to be getting me somewhere, just a bit slower progress than I had hoped.
