Cutting Cholesterol, an Uphill Battle

clipped from www.nytimes.com Cutting Cholesterol, an Uphill Battle Last December, a routine nonfasting blood test revealed that my total cholesterol level, which had long wavered between 190 and 205 milligrams per deciliter of blood serum, was now 222 and flagged as “high” by the laboratory’s computer. A heart-healthy reading should be under 200. The HDLs, the so-called good cholesterol that protects against heart disease, were also high at 69, so that was good. My triglycerides, at 95, were well within the normal range of zero to 149. The VLDLs, also a potentially harmful form, measured 19, again within the normal range of 5 to 49. But the LDLs, the bad guys that deposit plaque on artery walls, were 134 — “high” since they should be under 100 if I want to maintain a healthy cardiovascular system