What is Your Personal Ideal Cholesterol Reading?
By Edward Chen 
Many don't understand the necessity of cholesterol reading. Some know well enough that cholesterol is not good for the heart. But do they really go out to health centers just to ask what's the ideal cholesterol reading for them? Oftentimes, they don't. Rarely do people go see their doctors for cholesterol reading out on their own volition and not because their company or their health insurance provider forces them to do so.
The level of cholesterol you have in your blood indicates your risk of developing heart failures. And if you don't know it yet, even the best doctors and the most advanced medical devices of this generation are having a hard time finding a solution to each and every heart problem known to man. Today's medicine is still patterned around addressing the symptoms and effects of the disease instead of actually curing it, as far as heart problems are concerned.
This takes you back to the fact that you have to know your ideal cholesterol reading for your own sake. Cardiologists or heart doctors can very well take your cholesterol test by extracting a very small portion of your blood and sending it for analysis. They can also have a medical technologist run the test for them. Bottom line, they can help you regulate your blood cholesterol enough for you to be safe from diseases like atherosclerosis, angina, arteriosclerosis, and all other types of heart ailments.
When somebody takes your cholesterol blood test, he or she will prick a needle into your inner elbow or at the back of your hand. This is where they'll be extracting the blood sample that is needed for analysis. Once they're done with the test, they would provide you or your doctor with the blood cholesterol figures that they obtained. More often than not, they'll give you at least three sets of information.
First they'll give you your total cholesterol level. It is usually measured in mg/dL so the numbers could go from 100 to 500 or possibly higher. The ideal cholesterol reading as far as total cholesterol level is concerned is less than 200. 199 is the highest figure you are allowed to get. If you fall within 199 and below, you can say that are on the safe side. All you have to do is to maintain what you're doing right and you should be all set. However, if you go above 200 to around 239, you're considered on the borderline. This means that it can go either way for you, depending upon your body build and heart disease risk factors. Your doctor should be able to assess whether a 225 cholesterol count is good enough or too high for your body figure. However, if you go beyond 240, then you are at heightened risks of heart diseases. At this point, drastic changes in your lifestyle will be required.
The other number you might get is your LDL cholesterol level. This pertains to the count or level of bad cholesterol in your blood. The ideal cholesterol reading for this is 100 mg/dL or below. You should strive to lower your LDL level if you know for a fact that you are prone to developing heart problems due to heredity, your nature of work, or your lifestyle. An LDL level of 100 to 129 mg/dL is still optimal for people who have lesser risks of developing heart problems. If you get a number that's somewhere around 130 to 159 mg/dL, you're on the borderline. Anything more than that puts you at risk of developing heart diseases.
Another figure you might be interested at when having your cholesterol level checked is your HDL level. HDL is the level of good cholesterol in your blood. Of all the number you see, this is the only one you want to go higher. You want your HDL level at 60 or higher. If you're a woman, 40 and higher is still ideal cholesterol reading. However, if you get somewhere around 39 or below, you are at a higher risk of developing heart problems. Good cholesterol is needed by the body because it serves as the watchdog for bad cholesterol. It defends the body so you want high levels of it instead of the other way around.
To find more information about cholesterol, head on to http://www.normalcholesterollevelonline.com where you can also find information on how to lower triglycerides.
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