Your Heart Health Numbers

Now that you know your numbers, what do they mean? The chart below will help you make sense of these often-confusing, always-important digits. Get tips for lowering high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

Test	Range	What it Means
Total cholesterol	Less than 200 mg/dL	Ideal
	Between 200 and 239	Borderline high
	240 and above	High
LDL ("bad") cholesterol	Below 100 mg/dL	Optimal
	Between 100 and 129	Near optimal/above optimal
	130-159	Borderline high
	160-189	High
	190 and above	Very high
HDL ("good") Cholesterol	Less than 50 mg/dL for women; less than 40 for men	Low; A major heart disease risk
	50 to 60 for women; 40 to 50 for men	Average
	60 mg/dL or more	Ideal. Helps lower your risk of heart disease
Triglycerides	149 or lower	Normal risk of coronary artery disease
	150 to199	Borderline high risk of coronary artery disease
	200 to 499	High risk of coronary artery disease
	500 or above	Very high risk of developing coronary artery disease
Blood pressure	Less than 120/80 mm Hg	Normal blood pressure
	Between 120/80 mm Hg and 139/89 mm Hg	Prehypertension,* with twice the risk of developing hypertension
	140/90 mm Hg to 159/99 mm Hg	Stage 1 hypertension
	160/100 mm Hg or higher	Stage 2 hypertension

* Hypertension is the medical term for high blood pressure.

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