What Is Difference Between Cholesterol And Triglycerides

What Should I Expect During My Lipid Panel Blood Test

You can expect to experience the following during a blood test, or blood draw:

• Youll sit in a chair, and a healthcare provider will check your arms for an easily accessible vein. This is usually in the inner part of your arm on the other side of your elbow.
• Once theyve located a vein, theyll clean and disinfect the area.
• Theyll then insert a small needle into your vein to take a blood sample. This may feel like a small pinch.
• After they insert the needle, a small amount of blood will collect in a test tube.
• Once they have enough blood to test, theyll remove the needle and hold a cotton ball or gauze on the site to stop the bleeding.
• Theyll place a bandage over the site, and youll be finished.

The entire procedure usually takes less than five minutes.

How Often Should I Get A Cholesterol Test

When and how often you should get a cholesterol test depends on your age, risk factors, and family history. The general recommendations are:

For people who are age 19 or younger::

• The first test should be between ages 9 to 11
• Children should have the test again every 5 years
• Some children may have this test starting at age 2 if there is a family history of high blood cholesterol, heart attack, or stroke

For people who are age 20 or older::

• Younger adults should have the test every 5 years
• Men ages 45 to 65 and women ages 55 to 65 should have it every 1 to 2 years

Good Cholesterol Vs Bad Cholesterol

Cholesterol lipoproteins come in several different types. You may have heard cholesterol referred to as good and bad cholesterol.

Low-density lipoproteins are considered bad cholesterol, according to the Mayo Clinic. If LDL cholesterol levels are too high, these particles can mix with other substances and build up as plaque in the arteries. Plaque can make the arteries more narrow and rigid, a condition called atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis can reduce blood flow and may eventually cause a heart attack or stroke, per the Mayo Clinic.

High-density lipoproteins help prevent the buildup of plaque. Per the Mayo Clinic, these good cholesterol particles move through the bloodstream and pick up excess LDL cholesterol. The good HDL then returns the bad LDL to the liver for disposal.

It was previously believed that eating cholesterol-rich foods could raise cholesterol levels to an unhealthy level. But a major 2015 report by the USDA Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee says that dietary cholesterol is less of a risk factor for atherosclerosis and heart disease than previously thought. However, a diet high in fatty foods and carbohydrates âisâ a risk factor for high cholesterol and plaque buildup.

Poor diet, along with a lack of exercise, obesity and cigarette smoking are all major risk factor for high cholesterol, per the Mayo Clinic. Genetics and older age can also be risk factors.

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There Are Different Kinds Of Cholesterol And Some Are Good While Others Are Bad

• âBadâ cholesterol refers to low-density lipoproteins . LDL has more fat than protein, which makes it less dense and more apt to stick to the sides of your arteries.
• âGoodâ cholesterol refers to high-density lipoproteins . HDL has more protein than fat and actually collects excess fat during its travels, cleaning up the excess and bringing them away from your organs to be disposed of properly by your liver.

How Do Triglycerides Get Into The Blood

When we eat foods containing triglycerides, such as meat, dairy products, cooking oils and fats, they are absorbed by our intestines and packaged into parcels of fats and protein called chylomicrons . These carry the triglycerides in the blood stream to our tissues to be used for energy straight away, or stored for later.

The body also makes its own supply of triglycerides in the liver. This form is carried in a different type of lipoprotein known as VLDL cholesterol.

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Differences Between Triglycerides And Cholesterol

Triglycerides and cholesterol are two types of lipids that are commonly found in the bloodstream. Triglycerides are a type of lipid molecule that is made up of three fatty acids, while cholesterol is a lipid molecule that has five carbon rings. While both triglycerides and cholesterol play important roles in the body, they have different functions. Cholesterol is mainly used to build cell membranes, while triglycerides are used as a source of energy. In addition, high levels of triglycerides can increase your risk for heart disease, while high levels of cholesterol do not appear to increase your risk for heart disease.

What Are The Different Types Of Cholesterol

There are two types: high-density lipoprotein and low-density lipoprotein . As a general rule, HDL is considered good cholesterol, while LDL is considered bad. This is because HDL carries cholesterol to your liver, where it can be removed from your bloodstream before it builds up in your arteries. LDL, on the other hand, takes cholesterol directly to your arteries. This can result in atherosclerosis, a plaque buildup that can even cause heart attack and stroke.

Triglycerides make up the third component of cholesterol and act as unused calories that are stored as fat in the blood. Eating more calories than you burn can cause triglycerides to build up in the bloodstream, increasing your risk for heart attacks.

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Checking Your Blood Cholesterol Level

A cholesterol screening is an overall look at the fats in your blood. Screenings help identify your risk for heart disease. It is important to have what is called a full lipid profile to show the actual levels of each type of fat in your blood: LDL, HDL, triglycerides, and others. Talk with your healthcare provider about when to have this test.

You Can Reduce Your Levels Of Cholesterol And Triglycerides By Following These Simple Recommendations:

Choose healthier fats the fats contained in vegetable oils are preferable, as they are rich in mono and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Eating foods rich in saturated fats should be reduced, in favor of foods rich in Omega-3 fatty acids, like fish . It is also advisable to avoid foods high in trans fats and those containing high amounts of cholesterol .

Avoid or limit your consumption of alcohol High alcohol intake is associated with an increase in levels of triglycerides. Alcohol consumption should be limited to no more than two Alcohol Units per day for men and one A.U. per day for women, equal to a 125 ml glass of wine or a bar glass of spirits or a can of medium-strength beer.

Include lots of plant-based foods in your diet .

• Consume 5 or more portions of fruit and vegetables daily to ensure high nutritive value , protective action and fiber intake, along with fewer calories.
• Consume 6 or more portions of grains daily . Eating grains, especially whole grains, ensures an adequate intake of complex carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals and fiber.

Reduce your consumption of refined sugars Consumption of refined sugars worsens the lipidic profile of glycemic metabolism. For this reason, it is advisable to prefer complex carbohydrates to refined sugars .

Bibliography

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How Can I Lower My Cholesterol

There are two main ways to lower your cholesterol:

• Heart-healthy lifestyle changes, which include:
• Heart-healthy eating. A heart-healthy eating plan limits the amount of saturated and trans fats that you eat. Examples 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 .
• Managing stress. Research has shown that chronic stress can sometimes raise your LDL cholesterol and lower your HDL cholesterol.
• Quitting smoking.Quitting smoking can raise your HDL cholesterol. Since HDL helps to remove LDL cholesterol from your arteries, having more HDL can help to lower your LDL cholesterol.
• 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 medicines 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 should continue with the lifestyle changes.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Causes Of High Cholesterol

Elevated LDL cholesterol levels can be caused by several factors, including heredity conditions such as familial hypercholesterolemia. More commonly, elevated cholesterol levels are related to poor diet, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, age, smoking, and gender .

Several medical conditions, including diabetes, hypothyroidism, liver disease, and chronic kidney failure can also increase cholesterol levels. Some drugs, especially steroids and progesterone, can do the same.

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What Is Ldl Cholesterol

Low density lipoprotein is a type of lipoprotein, which helps in the transportation of cholesterol in our body. This is often referred to as a bad cholesterol type since it can get deposited on blood vessel walls as thick and dense plaques and attracts macrophages which will eventually obstruct the vessel lumen causing Atherosclerosis.

Increased LDL levels markedly increase the risk of coronary artery disease.

Every person who is suspected to have Hypercholesterolemia should get a lipid profile done once in every month, which will reveal a laboratory measurement of LDL cholesterol in the body.

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My Cholesterol Is Normal But My Triglycerides Are High: Why Is That

So both your HDL and LDL levels are where they should be, but your triglycerides are still high why is that?

Triglycerides become elevated due to excess calories that do not get burned off, and in turned get stored in fat cells. Statins are medications that primarily lower LDL cholesterol, but depending on the medication dose, can lower Triglycerides from 20 to 40 percent, Sai Hanumanthu MD, with the TriHealth Heart Institute explains.

There are steps you can take to lower your triglyceride levels while promoting good cardiovascular health, including:

• Losing 5 to 10 pounds if overweight
• Avoiding alcohol
• Avoiding foods high in saturated fats
• Limiting simple carbs that have high processed sugars .
• Participating in 30 minutes of exercise per day

All these suggestions and routine follow up with a medical professional will lower you triglyceride level, even despite a low total cholesterol, Dr. Hanumanthu says.

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The Difference Between Cholesterol And Triglycerides

The rapid increase in the size of the heart disease problem over the last few years has resulted in a growing awareness of the seriousness of the problem and the need for people to take steps to control the risk of cardiac disease. Medical research and hence treatment methods are getting more advanced by the day, but as even the best cardiologists would tell you, prevention is better than cure and therefore the need to check various parameters to keep them under control is of paramount importance.

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Among the number of factors and medical terms that relate to heart conditions are cholesterol and triglycerides. They are both lipids that are in the blood and high levels of either cause heart and circulation problems. Because they are both fats people often think of them as being the same thing, which is incorrect. They are different in the functions they perform and knowing about the difference is important to understanding what they do and how they affect heart health.

How Fat And Cholesterol In Food Affect Blood Cholesterol Levels

The types of fat in the diet help determine the amount of total, HDL, and LDL cholesterol in the bloodstream. The types and amount of carbohydrate in the diet also play a role. Cholesterol in food matters, too, but not nearly as much.

• The discovery half a century ago that high blood cholesterol levels were strongly associated with an increased risk for heart disease triggered numerous warnings to avoid foods that contain cholesterol, especially eggs and liver. However, scientific studies show a weak relationship between the amount of cholesterol a person consumes and his or her blood cholesterol levels

• In studies of more than 80,000 female nurses, Harvard researchers found that consuming about an egg a day was not associated with higher risk of heart disease. However, people who have heart disease or diabetes should monitor egg consumption.

For most people, the amount of cholesterol eaten has only a modest impact on the amount of cholesterol circulating in the blood. For some people, though, blood cholesterol levels rise and fall very strongly in relation to the amount of cholesterol eaten. For these responders, avoiding cholesterol-rich foods can have a substantial effect on blood cholesterol levels. Unfortunately, at this point there is no way other than by trial and error to identify responders from non-responders to dietary cholesterol.

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Hdl Cholesterol Or Good Cholesterol

The role of HDL lipoproteins is to capture cholesterol molecules that are deposited in the arteries, to transport them to the liver. The latter will then take care of eliminating cholesterol through the digestive tract using the bile.

HDL therefore makes it possible to reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood, hence the name ofgood cholesterol. It is considered that the HDL cholesterol level must be greater than 0.35 g / L to protect against cardiovascular disease.

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What To Eat: Foods That Lower Cholesterol

There is great evidence to support functional foods that help lower cholesterol, Featherstun says. Add these choices to your diet:

Plant stanols and sterols These are naturally occurring compounds found in plant cell walls, Featherstun says. They interfere with cholesterol absorption in the small intestine and can help lower LDL cholesterol. A study published in October 2012 in Lipids in Health and Disease found that eating 9 to 10 grams of stanols per day can help lower LDL cholesterol by more than 17 and as much as 22 percent. You can get plant stanols and sterols in margarine-like spreads such as Benecol and Smart Balance, available in the dairy section of most grocery stores.

Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats These fats can help decrease LDL cholesterol, Featherstun says. To get them, eat fish high in omega-3 fatty acids, such as salmon, tuna, trout, herring, or king mackerel, at least twice a week. Other good sources of unsaturated fats include chia seeds, avocados, almonds, walnuts, and olive oil.

Soy foods Soy proteins contain isoflavones and phytoestrogens, which block both cholesterol absorption and new cholesterol production, Featherstun says. Good sources of soy protein include tofu, soy milk, and edamame. Try to replace one daily animal protein item with a soy protein alternative, Featherstun suggests.

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What Does Ldl Cholesterol Do

LDL is considered the bad cholesterol. It carries cholesterol to your arteries, where it may collect in the vessel walls and contribute to plaque formation, known as atherosclerosis. This can lead to decreased blood flow to the heart muscle , leg muscles , or abrupt closure of an artery in the heart or brain, leading to a heart attack or stroke. Over a third of the US population has high LDL cholesterol. Diagnosis is made via blood testing, so if you dont check, you wont know.

For LDL, the lower the number the better. A good goal to keep in mind is less than 130 mg/dL if you dont have atherosclerotic disease or diabetes. It should be no more than 100 mg/dL, or even 70mg/dL, if you have any of those conditions or high total cholesterol. Its very important to set your own target cholesterol levels with your doctor. Obesity, a large waist circumference, a sedentary lifestyle, or a diet rich in red meat, full-fat dairy, saturated fat, trans fats, and processed foods can lead to high LDL cholesterol.

Ldl Cholesterol Or Bad Cholesterol

LDL lipoproteins deposit cholesterol on the walls of the arteries, causing plaques of fat called atheromatous plaques, hence the name. bad cholesterol. It is therefore better to have a low level of LDL in the blood, to reduce the risk of cardiovascular problems. The LDL level should generally not exceed 1.6g / L. In a person with one or more cardiovascular risk factors , it is advisable not to exceed the limit of 1.3g / L.

The term total cholesterol includes HLD and LDL cholesterol levels. This rate must be less than or equal to 2g / L, but the lower it is, the better.

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Summary Cholesterol Vs Triglycerides

Triglycerides and cholesterols are lipids absorbed from the diet and synthesized by the liver. Triglycerides are the building blocks of the body fats. When there is a low level of blood glucose, triglycerides work as an energy source and produce energy. On the other hand, cholesterol is important to produce hormones and maintain the cell membrane. Excess amount of cholesterol gets deposited in the arteries and reduce the blood flow, increasing the risk of heart attacks. Similarly, high levels of triglycerides can cause atherosclerosis, heart disease and stroke. Thus, regular exercise will help to reduce the levels of bad cholesterol and triglycerides from your body. This is the summary of the difference between cholesterol and triglycerides.

Reference:

1. âStructural Biochemistry/Lipids/Cholesterol.â Structural Biochemistry/Lipids/Cholesterol â Wikibooks, Open Books for an Open World, Available here.2. âTriacylglycerol: Structure & Function.â Study.com, Available here.

Image Courtesy:

1. âFat triglyceride shorthand formulaâ By Wolfgang Schaefer â author via Commons Wikimedia2. âCholesterol â By Wesalius â Own work via Commons Wikimedia