My total cholesterol is 272, but my HDL is 73. Is that good or bad?

Since my HDL is high (73), my doctor said it makes the high total cholesterol (272) less of a concern. What do I need to do to decrease my total cholesterol?

I'd still try to get your LDL down. best thing to do is excercise and lower your cholesterol intake. if you eat a lot of eggs (they have a TON of cholesterol) or fatty meat scaling back on those on that might get you down. you could also get prescription, id probably go with a statin, zocor in particular because a generic is coming out in a month or two so it will be the cheapest. doctors are going crazy prescribing zetia right now; dont let him give it to you, its a crappy drug by itself and its expensive. i guess your profile is kinda borderline though, depends on if you want to do it or not. if you have a family history of heart problems or coronary artery disease id do it. they say every 2 points you lower your LDL you lower your risk of having a heart attack in the next 10 years by about 1% so if you got it back down to 200 which is considered normal you could decrease your risk of a heart attack by about 1/3

im guessing it's bad.
:(

Put down the cheeseburger fatty! You're gonna frickn DIE!

The old standby - exercise and diet. If your doc told you this number was ok you need to get another doc. Your chol should be under 200.

272 is pretty high, but the 73 sounds good

unless I'm thinking of LDL lol

avasmava is right tho, it is supposed to be below 200

Eat a Low Cholesterol diet and watch your carb intake as well. You need to get exercise as well. 73 pretty good for the HDL, but your LDL is high and the total should be less than 200..........the new recommendation is actually less than 170, if you have any problem with your blood glucose.

Eat less fatty foods, quit smoking if you are a smoker, eat lots of fiber (it cleans ya out and takes the cholesterol out with it), exercise, and at last resort prescription medication like Lipitor I have heard works wonders.

im afraid your not eating enough. consult your local wendys as soon as possible.

anything over 200 is high. look at your diet and figure out what you're doing. if you lose just 20 pounds it will go down a good bit. try eating oatmeal for breakfast every morning and drink 1 cod liver oil tablet every morning.

Hi:

Your cholesterol is high, you need to check your ldl (low density lipoprotein, "bad cholesterol"). HDL (high density lipoprotein) is the good cholesterol, it will protect you!

1) If you smoke, quit!
2) If you are over weight... You need to do a diet
3) If you have family with heart, vascular or cholesterol problems, YOU NEED to talk to your doctor, to have a GREAT prevention plan

Good luck