Triglyceride test?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Northerner

Northerner

Admin (Retired)
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
Hi, does anyone know what the test for triglyceride levels is, and what a 'normal' level is? I know they did this test when I was in hospital originally, but haven't heard it mentioned since. So, eithr they are not doing the test, or they are doing it but not telling me the result. Is it a fasting test, like with the HDL/LDL cholesterol test? If so, I haven't been having it because I haven't had a proper fasting test since diagnosis.

I would just like to know the numbers in case there is anything I can do to further improve my future health. I've seen it mentioned here a few times and also on other forums.:confused:
 
Northerner said:
Hi, does anyone know what the test for triglyceride levels is, and what a 'normal' level is? I know they did this test when I was in hospital originally, but haven't heard it mentioned since. So, eithr they are not doing the test, or they are doing it but not telling me the result. Is it a fasting test, like with the HDL/LDL cholesterol test? If so, I haven't been having it because I haven't had a proper fasting test since diagnosis.

I would just like to know the numbers in case there is anything I can do to further improve my future health. I've seen it mentioned here a few times and also on other forums.:confused:
Click to expand...

hi there northener here is what i found out

http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/triglycerides/test.html
 
Northerner said:
Thanks steff, very useful! It does say that it is a fasting test, so they are not doing it for me at the moment. Might get it changed for my next clinic appointment in October. But, from reading the webpage I'm unlikely to be high in that as I have good control and am not overweight - just need to keep away from the bottle!😱😉
Click to expand...

LOL try your best
 
Cholesterol is broken down into 3 types - trigs, HDL and LDL. HDL is the good stuff. LDL is the potentially dangerous stuff and this is what statins work on. Trigs are produced from Carbs in the body.

To get the breakdown (sometimes referred to as a lipid panel), you need to do a fasting test.

How bad the LDL is depends on the particle size of the LDL. There is a correlation between the LDL particle size and the Trigs/HDL ratio. If you divide trigs by HDL, it should be under 1.3 if your LDL particles are of a good size. If the ratio is above that then you are looking at small size LDL particles, which can cause damage and increase cardio risk.

So you want your trigs to be as low as possible, your HDL to be as high as possible then the level of LDL is much less of a concern.

Docs tend to only want to look at total chol and will prescribe statins based on that. There's a rather artificial target for diabetics of 4.0 for total cholesterol which is fairly meaningless without doing a breakdown. If you had a total chol of 5.0 and the breakdown showed 3.0 of HDL and 1.0 of trigs, then thats absolutely fine.

So if theres any concern about cholesterol then you need a lipid panel, not just a total cholesterol. Whether your doc will bother before writing a prescription for statins is a bit of a lottery.

If you want to reduce your Trigs, the most effective thing you can do is reduce your carb consumption.

Hope thats useful.
 
Hi Northerner
This is what i found, hope it helps

The Triglyceride levels are defined as follows:


?Normal: Less than 150 mg/dL

?Borderline High: 150-199 mg/dL

?High: 200-499 mg/dL

?Very High: 500 mg/dL or above


Acceptable Triglyceride Level


An acceptable triglyceride level would be 150 md/dL or less. A simple blood test can gauge your current triglyceride level. Your health professional will require that you not eat for 12-14 hours prior to the test being conducted. This allows the triglycerides from you food to be completely eliminated. The test is only concerned with the amount of triglycerides being manufactured by the body ? not the amount you are eating.
 
For UK (mmol/l) units, divide by 88.57

That gives an "acceptable" level of 1.7.

Alternatively, look at the lab ranges on the printout of your lab results.

(for HDL and LDL conversion to mmol/l, divide by 38.67 )
 
Thanks guys. I'm on statins and my last total cholesterol was 2.4. Prior to that I had a test done last October when I had stopped the statins and it was 3.7, so I can see that the statins make a difference. If the important thing is the ratio of trigs/HDL/LDL, then why is this not done as a matter of course? Is it cost? Or is it because it's not considered a significant risk if total cholesterol is low, like mine? That is, as my total is low, both LDL and HDL must neccesarily also be low?

It's not a big concern for me, but like to have all the facts so I can make sure I'm doing the best I can!🙂
 
Northerner said:
Thanks guys. I'm on statins and my last total cholesterol was 2.4. Prior to that I had a test done last October when I had stopped the statins and it was 3.7,
Click to expand...
2.4???? Thats very low. Cholesterol is essential to the functioning of the brain and body in general. There has been research showing that low levels of cholesterol in the elderly increases death rates.

The target for diabetics is under 4.0, which you were under before statins anyway. So why you are on statins at all is a bit of a mystery.


Northerner said:
If the important thing is the ratio of trigs/HDL/LDL, then why is this not done as a matter of course? Is it cost? Or is it because it's not considered a significant risk if total cholesterol is low, like mine? That is, as my total is low, both LDL and HDL must neccesarily also be low?
Click to expand...

Cost. Assumptions are made instead.
 
VBH said:
2.4???? Thats very low. Cholesterol is essential to the functioning of the brain and body in general. There has been research showing that low levels of cholesterol in the elderly increases death rates.

The target for diabetics is under 4.0, which you were under before statins anyway. So why you are on statins at all is a bit of a mystery.
...
Click to expand...

You just can't win at this game, can you? 😱

I did (and still do) question why, if I was 3.7 without them I still needed to take them. The doctor said it was because I'd had a problem with my heart and the angiogram I had done showed 'slight furring' on one of my arteries (the other arteries were described as 'pristine'!), so it was better to keep taking them. She didn't seem to see it as a problem that it was so low (although the DSN did say it was the lowest she had ever seen!) Still learning - thanks for your input VBH, maybe I'll question it again next time and try to find out what my respective proportions are.
 
My trigs at diagnosis were 11 times the accepted maximum, 'normal' I presume, while my LDL and HDL were in good shape.

I was put on a drug called Fenofibrate, at the time they didn't really like prescribing it as it was pretty expensive, it only works on the Trigs, not the other elements, that statins work for.

Once my HbA1C was sub 7% for a few consecutive tests they stoppped my Fenofibrate and up shot my trigs again. So I've been on Fenofibrate ever since.

It was actually my first blood test back at diagnosis and it was that alone that resulted in my diagnosis.

There are two lipids tests, fasting and random, fasting being the preferred, random, seemingly not worth the paper the results are written on - so why have the test on the paperwork?!
 
Interesting David. Fenofibrate is used as a fallback when people have side effects from statins, generally. But yours is a different case where its just the trigs.

As for the random, I'm not even sure why they just do a total cholesterol test since thats fairly meaningless on its own. As you say, a random lipid profile is usually pointless since it can be temporarily affected by food.

Have they ever mentioned reducing carb intake in order to control the trigs? Unfortunately if your trigs are high then its likely your LDL is small particle LDL and increases your cardio risk. So keeping the trigs down would seem to be essential.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top