More Important Than Ldl The Triglyceride/hdl Ratio
by Ford Brewer | Sep 11, 2020 | Plaque, Prediabetes & Diabetes
There are few things that humble me more than my complete and utter buffoonery when it comes to HDL lipidology Peter Attia
Its true of all of us. Thomas Dayspring
Thomas Dayspring is a nationally recognized lipidologist. That means hes an expert on cholesterol, fat, and oil metabolism. And Peter Attia is no slouch in this area. If youd like to spend a few hours hearing cutting-edge concepts in this area, try listening to episodes 20-24 of Attias podcast THE DRIVE.
But be warned that video is very technical. Less than 600 people have started even one of these podcasts. We can only guess how many finished the full 5 hours. I did.
Some information wasnt that new. For example, Attia and Dayspring mentioned that the Framingham study indicates that TG/HDL is 5 times more predictive of heart attack risk than LDL.
They also mentioned that lipoprotein particles pass both cholesterol and fatty acids around like hot potatoes. A few of their concepts also seemed to contradict some basics mentioned later in this article.
Why would I focus this article on such simple concepts?
Because the basics of triglycerides and HDL are critical to health. But the complicated version just isnt understandable, let alone actionable.
I did a simple version of the TG/HDL in a video 3 years ago. It was one of our popular videos.
Many people told me the information saved their lives. Chuck Smith is one of those people.
Complications Of High Cholesterol
Since high cholesterol alone typically doesnt cause any symptoms, people only experience complications when their high cholesterol contributes to the development of severe heart disease, often in the form of heart attack or stroke. Over the long term, high cholesterol can cause plaque to form in your arteries, which can then narrow and lead to a cardiovascular emergency.
How Can I Lower My Ldl Level
There are two main ways to lower your LDL cholesterol:
- Therapeutic lifestyle changes . TLC includes three parts:
- Heart-healthy eating. A heart-healthy eating plan limits the amount of saturated and trans fats that you eat. Examples of eating plans that can lower your cholesterol include the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes diet and the DASH eating plan.
- Weight Management. If you are overweight, losing weight can help lower your LDL cholesterol.
- Physical Activity. Everyone should get regular physical activity .
- Drug Treatment. If lifestyle changes alone do not lower your cholesterol enough, you may also need to take medicines. There are several types of cholesterol-lowering drugs available, including statins. The medicines work in different ways and can have different side effects. Talk to your health care provider about which one is right for you. While you are taking medicines to lower your cholesterol, you still should continue with the lifestyle changes.
Some people with familial hypercholesterolemia may receive a treatment called lipoprotein apheresis. This treatment uses a filtering machine to remove LDL cholesterol from the blood. Then the machine returns the rest of the blood back to the person.
NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
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Why An Hdl Test Is Done
An HDL test is also known as an HDL-C test. Its one of several tests your doctor can use to check your cholesterol levels. This full set of tests is known as a complete cholesterol test, a lipid profile, or a lipid panel. Doctors routinely use this group of tests to determine the risk of developing heart disease.
The HDL test specifically looks at the level of HDL in your blood. An HDL test may also be ordered as a follow-up test if you have high results on your cholesterol-screening test.
The American Heart Association recommends that all adults age 20 or older have their cholesterol checked every four to six years. Your doctor may order an HDL test as part of a regular checkup.
Doctors may perform the test regularly for people who are at risk for heart disease, including those who:
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Signs And Symptoms Of High Cholesterol
Typically, high cholesterol doesnt cause any symptoms until it causes a medical emergency, like a heart attack or stroke. These heart-disease-related events dont occur until high cholesterol levels have led to fatty plaque building up in the arteries. In turn, this leads to a narrowing of the arteries and a change in the makeup of the arterial lining, also known as heart disease.
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High Cholesterol Causes Influences And Risk Factors
Lots of things can raise — or lower — your cholesterol levels. They include:
Saturated fats and simple carbohydrates. Reducing the amount of saturated fat, simple carbohydrates, and cholesterol in your diet can help lower your blood cholesterol.
Trans fats. Avoid artificial trans fats, which can raise your cholesterol. Check labels on baked goods, snack foods, frozen pizza, margarine, coffee creamer, vegetable shortenings, and refrigerated dough . Keep in mind that items that say they have “0 g trans fat” can actually have a tiny bit of trans fat in each serving, which adds up. So check the ingredients list. “Partially hydrogenated” means it has trans fat in it.
Good fats. Unsaturated fats don’t raise cholesterol levels. You can find unsaturated fats in foods like nuts, fish, vegetable oil, olive oil, canola and sunflower oils, and avocados. Limit saturated fats, which you find in animal products, and don’t eat processed meats.
Sugar. Eating and drinking too much sugar raises your triglyceride levels. High levels of triglycerides make heart disease more likely. Check food and drink labels to see how much sugar has been added, apart from sugars that are naturally part of a food. The average woman should get no more than 5 teaspoons per day from added sugars, and men shouldn’t get more than 9 teaspoons per day calories, according to the American Heart Association.
Heredity. High blood cholesterol can run in families.
What Are Ldl And Hdl
LDL and HDL are two types of lipoproteins. They are a combination of fat and protein. The lipids need to be attached to the proteins so they can move through the blood. LDL and HDL have different purposes:
- LDL stands for low-density lipoproteins. It is sometimes called the bad cholesterol because a high LDL level leads to a buildup of cholesterol in your arteries.
- HDL stands for high-density lipoproteins. It is sometimes called the good cholesterol because it carries cholesterol from other parts of your body back to your liver. Your liver then removes the cholesterol from your body.
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Why The Test Is Performed
Triglycerides are usually measured together with other blood fats. Often it is done to help determine your risk of developing heart disease. A high triglyceride level may lead to atherosclerosis, which increases your risk for heart attack and stroke.
A very high triglyceride level may also cause swelling of your pancreas .
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Difference Between Ldl And Triglycerides
Low-density lipoprotein is a type of lipoprotein, which helps in the transportation of cholesterol in our body.
Triglyceride is a form of dietary fat synthesized in the liver as well as taken in with certain food types such as meat, dairy products, and cooking oils.
Elevated levels of both these substances in blood are known to be clinical measurements which give a hint towards hypercholesterolemia.
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Low Ldl High Triglycerides Could Indicate Covid
Teufel K, et al. Abstract 268. Presented at: National Lipid Association Scientific Sessions Dec. 10-12, 2020 .
Disclosures: We were unable to process your request. Please try again later. If you continue to have this issue please contact .
Among patients hospitalized with COVID-19, LDL level below 50 mg/dL and triglycerides above 150 mg/dL were individually associated with increased odds for mortality, according to a presentation.
Prior studies have demonstrated lipid abnormalities in patients with SARS-CoV-2 that were mainly analyzing total cholesterol levels. Our study suggests that patients with COVID-19 who have unusually low LDL levels and yet elevated TG levels have more increased mortality,Karolyn Teufel MD, assistant professor of medicine at the George Washington University Hospital in Washington D.C., and colleagues wrote in a poster presented at the virtual National Lipid Association Scientific Sessions. These lipid biomarkers may act as an independent prognostic marker for patients on admission. Additionally, it is unusual to see low LDL and high TG in a patient with metabolic syndrome one would expect to see elevated LDL levels in such patients.
At this hospital, the lower limit of normal LDL range is 50 mg/dL, the lower limit for HDL is 40 mg/dL, and the upper limit for triglycerides is 150 mg/dL.
Researchers observed greater odds for mortality when the direct LDL was below 50 mg/dL at any point during a patients hospital stay .
What Are Risk Factors For High Triglycerides
Factors that may raise triglyceride levels include:
- Excessive alcohol use.
- American Academy of Family Physicians. High Cholesterol. Accessed 11/182/2021.
- American Heart Association. Cholesterol. Accessed 11/18/2021.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Getting Your Cholesterol Checked. Accessed 11/18/2021.
- Hormone Health Network. Triglycerides. Accessed 11/18/2021.
- MedlinePlus. Triglycerides Test. Accessed 11/18/2021.
- Merck Manual Consumer Version. Overview of Cholesterol and Lipid Fats. Accessed 11/18/2021.
- National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. High Blood Triglycerides. Accessed 11/18/2021.
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Predictive Values Of Tg Tg/hdl
To study the predictive power of TG and TG/HDL-C, we performed ROC curves and AUC analyses regarding HT in patients attributable to LAA from the training cohort. We also analyzed the combined predictive value of TG and HDL-C for HT. The results showed that the predictive value of TG/HDL-C was significantly superior to TG and their combined effect . In addition, similar findings were observed when their predictive power was further analyzed by ROC curves and AUC analyses in patients attributable to LAA of the test cohort .
Predictive power of TG, HDL-C, TG+HDL-C, and TG/HDL-C for hemorrhagic transformation in patients attributable to large artery atherosclerosis of the training and test cohorts.
Main Difference Ldl Vs Triglycerides
Cholesterol is a substance produced inside our body it is also provided by certain types of food such as meat, butter, margarine, oils etc. Cholesterol is waxy in nature and does not dissolve in water. The key difference between LDL and triglycerides is that low density lipoprotein is a type of lipoprotein, which helps in the transportation of cholesterol in our body whereas Triglyceride is a form of dietary fat synthesized in the liver.
This article explores,
How to Calculate the Total LDL Level in BloodHow to Control High Cholesterol Levels in Blood
3. What is Triglycerides?How to Reduce Triglycerides in the Body
4. What is the difference between LDL and Triglycerides?
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High Hdl Cholesterol And Low Triglycerides Can Be Caused By Many Reasons
If your HDL cholesterol is in between 40 mg/dL and 60 mg/dL and your Triglycerides is in between 0 mg/dL and 150 mg/dL then you need not worry as these are the normal ranges for HDL cholesterol and Triglycerides respectively. But if your levels are lesser or greater than the above values, then there may be some problem in your body.
When To Seek Medical Advice
A high triglyceride level often does not produce any symptoms, so this condition is usually diagnosed during routine blood tests including a lipid panel.
If the patient does not have any medical conditions or bad lifestyle choices, then the doctor usually orders a lipid panel to be done every few years to assess the triglyceride and cholesterol levels.
If the triglyceride levels are detected above the normal range in the lipid panel, then the doctor will usually recommend lifestyle changes, such as exercise and diet as the first line of treatment for hypertriglyceridemia. If diet and exercise are not effective in lowering the high triglycerides, then medications, such as fibrates or statins are prescribed.
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Normal Cholesterol High Triglycerides
Even though your latest physical may have shown that your cholesterol levels are normal, you may still be at risk for heart disease if your triglycerides level is high.
A 20-year study conducted by the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine found that a pattern of elevated levels of triglycerides, the main form of fats circulating in the bloodstream, even when cholesterol levels are normal, can mean a two- to three-fold increase of deaths by cardiovascular disease.
Blood triglycerides come from two main sources: the food you eat-especially sugar, animal products and saturated fats-and from your liver. Although its not exactly clear how, high triglyceride levels can result in hardening of the arteries or thickening of the artery walls , which can raise your risk for stroke, heart attack, and heart disease.
- Normal triglyceride levels are less than 150 milligrams per deciliter
- Borderline high is 150-199 mg/dl high is 200-499 mg/dl
- Very high 500 mg/dl. A triglyceride level of 150 mg/dl or above is considered a risk for metabolic syndrome-a constellation of conditions resulting from too much fat around the waist-which in addition to raising your risk for heart disease, it can also increase your risk for diabetes.
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Does Coffee Affect Triglyceride Levels
Drinking coffeeespecially unfiltered coffeesignificantly contributes to increased levels of total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol , and triglycerides, researchers have reported. The more coffee consumed, the higher the concentrations of LDL-cholesterol and total cholesterol, they found.
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A Novel Predictive Model
The univariate logistic regression analyses for baseline characteristics in the training cohort are shown in Tables 4 and Table S1. The results showed that age, smoking, SBP, NIHSS scores, diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation, stroke etiology, prior use of antiplatelets, fasting glucose, platelets, TG, TC, LDL-C and TG/HDL-C were associated with HT . The multivariable logistic regression analyses showed that patients attributable to cardioembolism had higher risk of HT than those attributable to LAA however, TG, TC, LDL-C and TG/HDL-C were not independently associated with HT in patients attributable to cardioembolism . To further investigate the association of stroke etiology with HT, we performed logistic regression analyses in patients attributable to LAA, cardioembolism and small-vessel occlusion. The findings indicated that lower levels of TG and TG/HDL-C were significantly associated with a higher risk of HT in patients with LAA , but not in patients with cardioembolism or small-vessel occlusion . These results were further confirmed in the test cohort of patients with LAA .
Why Is Tg/hdl Important
TG/HDL is important because it is an important predictor of risk for heart disease. It is also a marker of insulin resistance, and insulin resistance is the major cause of prediabetes, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes.
The Womens Ischemia Syndrome Evaluation study studied 544 women referred for CV disease evaluation . The TG/HDL ranged from 0.3 to 18.4. It was a powerful predictor of all mortality and cardiovascular events.
This chart shows the WISE study range of TG/HDL. Individuals with lower TG/HDL had lower CV disease risk.
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Getting Your Cholesterol Checked
Many people have never had their cholesterol checked, so they dont know whether they are at risk.
High cholesterol usually has no signs or symptoms.
The only way to know whether you have high cholesterol is to get your cholesterol checked. Your health care team can do a simple blood test, called a lipid profile, to measure your cholesterol levels.
How Quickly Can I Lower My Cholesterol
Your cholesterol levels may lower as quickly as a few weeks to a few months, depending on your treatment plan.
If your levels are very high, your healthcare provider may recommend taking medications at the start of your treatment plan. This may help lower your cholesterol levels more quickly. The sooner you can lower your bad cholesterol levels, the sooner you can lower your risk for plaques to form.
You can also lower your cholesterol through lifestyle and diet changes alone, but it may take three to six months to see results. Talk with your healthcare provider to figure out the best treatment plan for you.
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Consult A Doctor For Your Ldl Hdl Ratio Problem
High LDL HDL ratio and low Triglycerides can be caused by a lot of reasons. If you take LDL HDL ratio and Triglycerides blood tests and the results are higher than 3 Ratio for LDL HDL ratio and lower than 0 mg/dL for Triglycerides, your physician may recommend more tests to figure out the problem. You might also get these tests if your physician thinks you have some other disease.
How To Reduce Triglycerides In The Body
- Consuming a balanced diet rich in fruits and leafy vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products and small portions of lean meat and fish
- Losing weight if overweight or obese
- Limiting sugary foods, modified carbohydrates, tobacco smoking, and alcohol
- Routine medical check-ups with lipid profile
It is highly recommended to keep triglycerides under control since their elevation above the marginal value can act as a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, and Diabetes Mellitus.
Triglycerides are a type of lipid, or fat, your body produces to store extra calories and provide energy. Cholesterol is another lipid that circulates in your blood. Your body uses cholesterol to build cells and produce hormones.
Both triglycerides and cholesterol are essential for your health but having levels that are too high puts your health at risk. Living a healthy lifestyle helps to keep your cholesterol and triglyceride levels within a normal range.
This article covers how triglycerides and cholesterol affect your health and how you can lower them naturally.
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