We received a question from one of our readers:  When my total cholesterol, good and bad chol are all within range -can triglycerides by 140?  How is it figured out??

My answer:

Hi!  These lab results can be really confusing 🙂  A general rule of thumb for most patients to figure out your cholesterol is…
Total Chol = LDL + HDL + (TG/5)
so… if LDL =120
HDL = 40
TG =140
total chol = 188

So, yes, it can happen. Just so you know, TG =140 isn’t a bad reading. Also, even though guidelines say that you do not need to fast for a cholesterol test…trigylcerides can be affected by what you eat before you get the test.

I hope this clears it up a bit for you -if you have any more questions or questions about other lab values -just drop us a line 🙂