Triglycerides

What are triglycerides?

Triglycerides are fats from the food we eat. Most of the fats we eat (like butter) are in triglyceride form. Extra calories, alcohol and sugar in your body turn into triglycerides. Your body stores them in fat cells throughout your body like stocking shelves in a pantry. You can use triglycerides later when you need them.

High triglycerides (hypertriglyceridemia) can put you at a higher risk of heart and vascular (blood vessel) disease. This includes heart attack and stroke. About 25% of people in the U.S. have high triglycerides.

How are triglycerides different from cholesterol?

Triglycerides and cholesterol are both fatty substances called lipids. But triglycerides are fats; cholesterol isn’t. Cholesterol is a waxy substance your liver makes. Your body uses it to build cell walls and help your nervous system. It also plays an important role in digestion and hormone production.

How do triglycerides circulate in the blood?

Pure cholesterol can’t mix with or dissolve in blood. Instead, your liver packages cholesterol with triglycerides and proteins called lipoproteins. The lipoproteins move this fatty mixture to areas throughout your body.

Types of these lipoproteins include:

• Very low-density lipoproteins (VLDLs).
• High-density lipoproteins (HDLs).
• Low-density lipoproteins (LDLs).

Normal and high triglyceride levels

For adults, your healthcare provider classifies high triglyceride levels as:

• Mild: 150-199 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL).
• Moderate: 200-499 mg/dL.
• Severe: Greater than 500 mg/dL.

For adults, a normal triglyceride level is below 150 mg/dL. For young people between ages 10 and 19, a normal number for triglycerides is below 90 mg/dL.

Your healthcare provider figures out your total cholesterol by looking at a combination of triglycerides, HDL and LDL numbers. If your triglycerides and LDL cholesterol are high, but your HDL is low, you have an increased risk of heart attack and stroke.

What are the symptoms of high triglycerides?

Like high cholesterol, high triglycerides rarely cause symptoms. That’s why you need to get routine lipid blood tests to check cholesterol numbers. For the most accurate reading, you should fast eight to 12 hours before a lipid blood test.

What are the complications of high triglycerides?

High levels of triglycerides increase your risk of pancreatitis. This severe and painful inflammation of the pancreas can be life-threatening.

High triglyceride levels also increase your risk of heart and vascular disease, including:

• Carotid artery disease.
• Coronary artery disease (CAD) and heart attack.
• Metabolic syndrome (a combination of high blood pressure, diabetes and obesity).
• Peripheral artery disease (PAD).
• Strokes.

What causes high triglycerides?

Causes of high triglycerides include:

• Excessive alcohol use.
• Unmanaged diabetes.
• A diet high in sugar, saturated fat and simple carbohydrates.
• Liver disease.
• Kidney disease.
• Medications like diuretics, hormones, corticosteroids, beta-blockers and some HIV medications.
• A body mass index (BMI) greater than 25.
• Inflammatory diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.
• Smoking.
• Thyroid disease.
• Lack of physical activity.

What are the risk factors for high triglycerides?

Factors that may raise your risk of high triglyceride levels include:

• Family history of high cholesterol or high triglycerides.
• Menopause.
• Pregnancy.
• HIV.
• Lipid metabolism disorder that you inherit.
• South Asian ancestry.

How often should you get triglyceride tests?

High triglyceride levels become more of a problem with age. As the risk rises, your healthcare provider might recommend tests more often.

Adults in their 20s, 30s and early 40s may need cholesterol tests every four to six years. If you have diabetes, a family history of high cholesterol or other heart disease risk factors, you may need more frequent tests.

Males over 45 need a test every year. Females over 55 also need annual tests.

If you have cardiovascular disease or you’re taking medications to lower your cholesterol or triglyceride levels, your healthcare provider or cardiologist might check your triglyceride levels more frequently.

Do children need triglyceride tests?

Yes, children need cholesterol and triglyceride tests. Providers usually test children between ages 9 and 11 and again during young adulthood (between ages 17 and 21). If a child has a family history of high cholesterol, heart attacks or strokes, their provider may do tests as early as age 2.

How can you prevent or lower high triglycerides?

Changes to your diet and lifestyle can lower triglyceride numbers. To keep triglycerides and total cholesterol within a healthy range:

• Be physically active for at least 30 minutes every day.
• Eat a heart-healthy diet with fewer unhealthy fats and simple sugars (carbohydrates) and more fiber.
• Manage high blood pressure and diabetes.
• Cut back on alcohol.
• Get enough sleep.
• Lose weight (if needed) and maintain a weight that’s healthy for you.
• Manage stress.
• Stop using tobacco products.

How are high triglycerides treated?

People at high risk for heart attacks, strokes or other problems may need medications to lower triglycerides. These may include cholesterol-lowering drugs such as statins.