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.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/11117-triglycerides