What Are Normal Cholesterol Levels?
Cholesterol levels are determined by a blood test showing how much of each type (good and bad) that you have in your bloodstream. Knowing what normal is will depend on your age, your sex and the country you reside in.
What’s considered to be a good level for a child would be considered off for an adult and vice versa. Some countries measure cholesterol using a different grading (such as the metric system) than other countries.
Standard is to check the levels in milligrams. You might see a reading that shows 160 mg/dL on your results. That means that your cholesterol is at 160 milligrams in a liter of blood.
Because of the abundance of fast food and sedentary lifestyles, even young children can become affected with high cholesterol. While some of it can be passed down through the family genes, usually when a child’s weight creeps up to an unhealthy level, they get the same health risks for their heart and other organs that an adult does.
The damage done to the heart in childhood can cause problems once they grow up. To treat this condition in children, lifestyle changes including diet and exercise are recommended.
Your doctor will order blood test called a lipid profile to determine your cholesterol levels. Cholesterol levels are viewed as total cholesterol and then broken down by high density lipoproteins (HDL), low density lipoproteins (LDL), very low density (VLDL) and triglycerides.
The desired total cholesterol is less than 200 mg/dL. If it is and it hovers in the 200-239 range, that means you have some mild health risks. Once the range reaches greater than 240, you have what’s considered high cholesterol and are at a strong risk for developing heart problems.
The total cholesterol is broken down into the HDL (good cholesterol) and should be a minimum of 45 mg/dl; however, the higher the HDL the better. If your reading is below 40 mg/dL, then you don’t have enough HDL in your body to help fight against the LDL cholesterol.
The LDL level (bad cholesterol) should be below 100 mg/dL especially if you have at least two risk factors for heart disease. If it’s below 130, your doctor won’t be too concerned but if it starts to go above 160, that’s considered high.
Your VLDL cholesterol should not be above 30 mg/dL.
The desirable level for triglycerides is below 150 mg/dL, It is considered a high reading when the level hits any number over 200 mg/dL.
If you have abnormally high total cholesterol, high LDL cholesterol, or low HDL cholesterol it is imperative that you start taking the steps necessary to improves your cholesterol levels to decrease your risk of developing heart disease.
Changing your diet and adding a regular exercise routine is a great way to lower your risks. However, if your levels are already much too high, then you may need to take more aggressive steps that include medical therapy to get those levels down as quickly as possible..