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Protecting Your Heart
Triglycerides— The Other Bad FatHeart disease risk isn’t just about cholesterol.Keep triglycerides in check with a healthy diet. For years, cholesterol got all the attention. But new national guidelines recognize that triglycerides, another type of fat found in the bloodstream, are also important in determining your risk of heart disease. “Triglyceride levels we used to consider acceptable are now linked to a higher heart disease risk, especially if your cholesterol is high, too,” says Stephen Motsay, M.D., family practice physician at Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network.Triglycerides are a chemical form of fat in your food and your body, and they’re also found in your blood. Many excess calories you take in but don’t use immediately are converted to triglycerides and transported to fat cells to be stored. Together, cholesterol and triglycerides are the “blood lipids” (fats) that contribute to artery-clogging plaque. While earlier cardiac risk guidelines called for screenings to include only total cholesterol and HDL (the “good” type of cholesterol), the new guidelines call for a complete lipid profile including LDL (“bad” cholesterol) and triglycerides. These tests should begin in early adulthood, Motsay says. “If the results are normal, you need a retest about every three to five years. If your lipids are high, ask your doctor how often you should be tested. The decision is based on other risk factors such as smoking, hypertension, diabetes, family history of heart disease, obesity and stress.” What can you do about high triglycerides? Here are Motsay’s recommendations:
This page last updated 2/12/08 04:08 PM
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