What are triglycerides?
Triglycerides are fats found in your blood. They are a major source of energy. They come from the foods we eat. High triglyceride levels are a risk factor for metabolic syndrome, diabetes, fatty liver disease, and pancreatitis. Triglyceride test results must be interpreted in the light of other test results, the reference range of the lab where the testing is done, your age, gender, symptoms, and health conditions.
It is more dangerous for women than for men to have high triglycerides. This test can be ordered as a package or individually with other tests to form a custom package. Testing is simple and easy.
Why test triglycerides?
Testing triglycerides can help you discover your risk factors for lifestyle diseases in time to take preventive actions. If you have a family or personal history of high triglycerides, heart disease, or diabetes, you are at an increased risk of heart problems or diabetes. Additionally, lifestyle factors such as a poor diet, smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, or drug use can elevate triglyceride levels. Regular testing helps monitor changes in blood values as you make lifestyle modifications, take supplements, or undergo treatments.
What do the results mean?
Results have to be interpreted with consideration to other test results. Different labs have different reference ranges.
What causes low triglycerides?
Lower triglyceride levels tend to be associated with better health outcomes. Very low triglycerides can be associated with liver/biliary dysfunction, thyroid hyperfunction, autoimmune processes, and adrenal hyperfunction.
Symptoms of low triglycerides
Low triglyceride levels generally do not cause specific symptoms and are usually discovered through routine blood tests. However, they can be associated with underlying conditions such as malnutrition, hyperthyroidism, or certain genetic disorders. In rare cases, low triglycerides might be linked to issues like fatigue, poor growth in children, or difficulty maintaining weight.
What causes high triglycerides?
A high triglyceride level is associated with poor dietary habits, excess alcohol consumption, genetics, and other diseases. High triglycerides are associated, among other things, with atherosclerosis, cardiovascular disease, poor metabolism and utilization of fats, early-stage diabetes, primary hypothyroidism, fatty liver, and metabolic syndrome.
Extremely high triglycerides will need treatment, for which you will need to visit your doctor. We also recommend visiting a nutritional therapist, who can continue to work with you to make lifestyle and dietary changes.
Symptoms of high triglycerides
High triglycerides often have no direct symptoms but can lead to serious conditions like atherosclerosis, increasing the risk of heart disease, heart attack, and stroke. Extremely high levels can cause pancreatitis, resulting in severe abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, and fever. High triglycerides are also associated with fatty liver disease and metabolic syndrome, which includes increased waist circumference, high blood pressure, and elevated blood sugar.
More information
Diabetics with uncontrolled blood sugar may have very high triglycerides. Meals can dramatically change triglycerides, increasing 5 to 10 times compared with fasting levels just a few hours after eating. Levels vary daily and this is normal. Medications like corticosteroids, protease inhibitors for HIV, beta-blockers, and estrogens can increase blood triglyceride levels. Non-fasting levels might provide a more representative figure. However, as the interpretation of such results is not yet clear, fasting is still recommended before testing lipid levels.
Preparations for this test
The day before
Do not eat or drink anything except water for at least 10 (preferably 12) hours before taking this test.
On the day
This test is ideally done in the early morning after an overnight fast. Always take your ID with you when going to take a test.