How is it used?
Blood tests for triglycerides are usually part of a
lipid profile used to identify the risk of developing
heart disease. As part of a lipid profile, it may be used to monitor those who have risk factors for heart disease, those who have had a
heart attack, or those who are being treated for high lipid and/or triglyceride levels.
Some risk factors for heart disease include:
- Cigarette smoking
- Age (men 45 years or older or women 55 years or older)
- Hypertension (blood pressure of 140/90 or higher or taking high blood pressure medications)
- Family history of premature heart disease (heart disease in an immediate family member—male relative under age 55 or female relative under age 65)
- Diabetes mellitus
If you are diabetic, it is especially important to have triglycerides measured as part of any lipid testing since triglycerides increase significantly when blood sugar levels are not well-controlled.
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When is it ordered?
Lipid profiles, including triglycerides, are recommended every 5 years to evaluate risk of
heart disease in healthy adults. The test for triglycerides is not often ordered alone since risk of heart disease is based also on cholesterol levels (see
total cholesterol,
HDL-C,
LDL-C). Testing may be ordered more frequently for people who have identified risk factors for heart disease or who have been found to have high triglycerides and are being treated for it, to monitor treatment.
For children and adolescents at low risk, triglyceride and/or lipid testing is usually not ordered routinely. However, screening with a lipid profile is recommended for children and youths who are at an increased risk of developing heart disease as adults. Some of the risk factors are similar to those in adults and include a family history of heart disease or health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, or being overweight. High-risk children should have their first lipid profile between 2 and 10 years old, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. Children younger than 2 years old are too young to be tested.
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What does the test result mean?
A triglyceride test is usually performed as part of a fasting
lipid profile, and your doctor will take into consideration the results of each component of the lipid panel.
For adults, triglyceride test results are categorized as follows:
- Desirable: Less than 150 mg/dL (1.7 mmol/L)
- Borderline high: 150 to 199 mg/dL (1.7-2.2 mmol/L)
- High: 200 to 499 mg/dL (2.3-5.6 mmol/L)
- Very high: Greater than 500 mg/dL (5.6 mmol/L)
Note: These values are based on fasting triglyceride levels.
High triglyceride levels are associated with an increased risk of developing heart disease. Elevated levels can be due to several causes including:
When triglycerides are very high (greater than 1000 mg/dL (11.30 mmol/L)), there is a risk of developing pancreatitis. Treatment to lower triglycerides should be started as soon as possible.
The categories for triglyceride results for children and adolescents are different than those for adults. Talk to your child’s pediatrician about your child’s results.
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Is there anything else I should know?
If you are diabetic and your
blood sugar is out of control, triglycerides may be very high.
Triglycerides change dramatically in response to meals, increasing as much as 5 to 10 times higher than fasting levels just a few hours after eating. Even fasting levels vary considerably day to day. Therefore, modest changes in fasting triglycerides measured on different days are not considered to be abnormal.
Certain drugs such as corticosteroids, protease inhibitors for HIV, beta blockers, and estrogens can increase blood triglyceride levels.
There is increasing interest in measuring triglycerides in people who have not fasted. The reason is that a non-fasting sample may be more representative of the “usual” circulating level of triglyceride since most of the day blood lipid levels reflect post-meal (post-prandial) levels rather than fasting levels. However, it is not yet certain how to interpret non-fasting levels for evaluating risk so at present there is no change in the current recommendations for fasting prior to tests for lipid levels.
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