I’m going to make up some statistics for the sake of this discussion. They may not be completely accurate, but I suspect they are close enough for government work. Do I get TARP money for saying that?

It is my belief that 75% of men don’t know what their lipid panel values are. A lipid panel would be total cholesterol, hdl, ldl, and triglycerides. I arrived at 75% because a recent study indicated that slightly less than 50% of men get annual physicals and I’m figuring the guys who do get physicals are still guys, so half of them don’t even look at the results. Quick, what is your total cholesterol, hdl and ldl?

The other reason I suspect the number of cholesterol ignorant men is high is because a surprisingly large number of them seem surprised when they take a life insurance exam and find out that they are going to have to pay a higher rate because it their cholesterol is higher or their hdl lower than the rate class they applied for will support and honestly, more than likely, higher than their doctor would condone if they would ever go see him.

So, having told it like it is I thought I would share with all of my fellow men some info from dlife.com, a diabetes support website, on how to lower your cholesterol before you go to the doctor or take an insurance exam.

Bottom line. Healthy is a good thing whether it’s for insurance or just because you might live longer. But you can’t tell how healthy you are by how you feel or look. Even if it’s just the health fair let’s work on it guys and see if we can get those percentages to where we don’t act like an endangered species.