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High triglycerides - especially when coupled with high LDL cholesterol (bad cholesterol) - may place you at risk of having heart disease, but what are they?

Triglycerides are a type of fat, or lipid, that accounts for the majority of fat in our diets. Triglycerides are important because they provide the body the energy it needs to function on a daily basis. If you have an excess of triglycerides in the body, they will be stored as fat.

Triglycerides are either made in the liver or consumed in the diet and then absorbed into the body through the small intestine. Additionally, triglycerides never travel to their destination in the body alone; they attach to a protein and become a lipoprotein referred to as a chylomicron or a very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL). These lipoproteins are not very dense, or heavy. Therefore, along with low-density lipoproteins (LDL), they run the risk of potentially contributing to heart disease.
What should my triglyceride levels be?
Elevated levels of triglycerides are also a risk factor for heart disease. According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute:
What Are Triglycerides ?
* Triglyceride levels should be below 150 mg/dL (1.69 mmol/L).
* Levels between 150 mg/dL (1.69 mmol/L ) and 199 mg/dL (2.25 mmol/L) are considered borderline high.
* Levels between 200-499 mg/dL (2.26-5.63 mmol/L) are considered high.
* Levels above 500 mg/dL (5.64 mmol/L) or considered extremely high.

Who Is At Risk For Acquiring High Triglyceride Levels?
There are primary and secondary causes of hypertriglyceridemia, or high triglyceride levels. Primary causes include various genetic disorders that affect the metabolism of triglycerides and/or cholesterol. Secondary causes are usually due either excessive fat in the diet or an underlying conditions that would include:

* Diabetes
* Metabolic Syndrome
* Obesity
* Hypothyroidism
* Excessive Alcohol Consumption
* Nephrotic Syndrome

If any of these risk factors are present, your health care provider will probably recommend that you have a lipid panel performed more frequently (every one or two years as opposed to five years).
What Can Happen If My Triglyceride Levels Are Too High?
Having high triglyceride levels may place you at risk for coronary heart disease. However, this fact has not been exclusively proven. When triglyceride levels are high, most often, LDL levels will be high as well. Elevated LDL levels are an important risk factor for heart disease. However, it has not been fully established that high triglyceride levels alone are capable of producing health disease. While there are some studies that have stated that high triglycerides alone are not an independent risk factor for heart disease, there have been other studies that have indicated that triglycerides alone, even with normal LDL and HDL levels, may cause the development of coronary heart disease.