What Should My Triglycerides Be For My Age

How To Get Your Cholesterol Levels Checked

Simple Explanation of Triglycerides and How to Reduce Them

You can buy a test kit that will allow you to check your cholesterol levels at home, but they vary in how accurate they are. Kits that are approved by the FDA and say they’re traceable to a CDC program may be more accurate.

Given the lack of quality control on home health measurements like at-home testing kits, Dr. Fleg says, blood lipids should be measured by an accredited medical laboratory.

The AHA agrees, recommending that a primary care or family doctor assess blood lipid test results.

Getting an accurate cholesterol number is just one aspect of your overall cardiovascular health. You also have to understand what the number means for you personally.

Informed about your health history, family health history, and other risk factors, your doctor will be able to interpret the results better than a test kit. And by keeping track of all your cholesterol readings, your doctor will be able to catch any changes and advise you the best ways to address them.

How To Lower Triglycerides Naturally

Triglycerides can be lowered without drugs. For example, they can be lowered naturally through diet changes, decreasing consumption of alcohol or sugary beverages, by increasing physical activity, by losing weight, and other ways. As little as 5% to 10% reduction in body weight may lower triglycerides. The table below summarizes how much benefit different changes can effect.

Cholesterol Chart For Adults

Your doctor may recommend a plan of treatment for high cholesterol that includes lifestyle modifications and potentially medication. This will vary based on factors like other medications you may be taking, your age, sex, and general health.

Here are some medications more commonly prescribed for high cholesterol:

Statins.Statins lower the LDL cholesterol levels by slowing the production of cholesterol by the liver.
Bile acid sequestrants.Bile acid sequestrants are substances used in digestion. These resins can reduce cholesterol levels in the blood by binding to bile acids and removing them, forcing the body to break down LDL cholesterol to create bile acids instead.
Cholesterol absorption inhibitors.Cholesterol absorption inhibitors can block the absorption of cholesterol from the diet, sometimes in conjunction with statins.
Bempedoic acid.Bempedoic acid helps to stop an enzyme in the liver, ATP citrate lyase, from making cholesterol. This drug is often combined with statins for increased benefit for those with familial hypercholesterolemia, an inherited condition that can cause early heart disease.
PCSK9 inhibitors. Also used frequently with familial hypercholesterolemia, PCSK9 inhibitors, which are injected drugs, help the liver absorb and remove more LDL cholesterol from the blood.

Medications can also be used to treat contributing factors to cholesterol like triglycerides. These may be used in addition to some of the medications above.

How Often To Get Tested

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , most healthy adults should get their cholesterol checked every four to six years.

Your risk factors also determine how often your cholesterol should be checked. Adults who have a history of high cholesterol, heart disease, diabetes, or obesity need more frequent readings, as do all adults as they age.

Children should have their cholesterol checked at least once between the ages of 9 and 11 and again between 17 and 20 years of age. If a child has a family history of high cholesterol, heart disease, or is overweight or obese, their pediatrician may recommend getting checked sooner and more often.

About Your Cholesterol Result

High Cholesterol & 5 Ways to Lower Your Cholesterol Levels

A cholesterol test can measure:

total cholesterol the overall amount of cholesterol in your blood, including both “good” and “bad” cholesterol
total cholesterol to HDL cholesterol ratio the level of good cholesterol in your blood compared to your overall cholesterol level
good cholesterol this makes you less likely to have heart problems or a stroke
bad cholesterol this makes you more likely to have heart problems or a stroke
triglycerides a fatty substance similar to bad cholesterol

When you get your result, you may just be told your total cholesterol.

You might be able to get separate results for your good and bad cholesterol, triglycerides, and your total cholesterol to HDL ratio. Ask your doctor or nurse.

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Cholesterol Levels Chart For Children

If you are 19 or younger, healthy cholesterol levels are different, because your cholesterol naturally increases as you age.

Children should be tested for the first time between ages 9 and 11, and then every five years after the first test, according to the US National Library of Medicine.

However, if there is a history of high cholesterol, heart attacks, or stroke in the family, children should start testing at the age of 2.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics and the US National Library of Medicine, here’s what cholesterol levels should look like for children under 19:

Some children are genetically predisposed to high cholesterol because of a condition called familial hypercholesterolemia . The most effective way to diagnose FH is to get your child proper genetic testing from a specialist between the ages of 2 and 10, says Mohamed Al-Kazaz, MD, a cardiologist at Mount Sinai Hospital.

A child is also more likely to have high cholesterol if they have obesity, diabetes, liver or kidney disease, or an underactive thyroid, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

How Is High Cholesterol Diagnosed

Lipoprotein panel is a type of blood test that can measure cholesterol levels. Before the test, the patient may need to fast for 9-12 hours. The test gives information about different types of cholesterol:

Total cholesterol: Shows the total amount of cholesterol in the blood. It includes both low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol.
LDL cholesterol: Transports cholesterol particles throughout the body. LDL cholesterol is often called the bad cholesterol because it builds up in the walls of the arteries, making them hard and narrow.
HDL cholesterol: Picks up excess cholesterol and takes it back to your liver.
Non-HDL: Number is total cholesterol minus HDL. Non-HDL includes LDL and other types of cholesterol such as very lowdensity lipoprotein .
Triglycerides: Another form of fat in the blood that can increase your risk for heart diseases, especially in women, is triglycerides.

Too much of the bad kind, or not enough of the good kind, increases the risk that cholesterol will slowly build up in the inner walls of the arteries that feed the heart and brain.

Recommended Reading: How To Reduce Ldl Cholesterol

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.

Understand Your Cholesterol Test Results

High Cholesterol – Do I Need To Take Medication?

Use this page to understand your cholesterol and triglyceride results and see if they are in the healthy range.

When you have a cholesterol test, ask your healthcare professional to explain the results, so you don’t have any unnecessary worry or confusion.

Its not just your total cholesterol thats important, so your results will include different types of cholesterol. If you are only given your total cholesterol, ask for a break-down of the other numbers its possible to have a healthy total cholesterol number but an unhealthy balance of the different types of cholesterol.

Ask for a print out of your results if you are not able to speak to your GP, nurse or pharmacist.

What Strategies Can Be Used To Lower Triglyceride Levels

For many people, high triglycerides are caused by another disorder, such as diabetes, obesity, renal failure, or alcoholism. With these conditions, the strategy is to treat the primary cause. When high triglycerides are not caused by another disorder, they are often seen together with high cholesterol and treatment is directed toward lowering both cholesterol and triglycerides. Lifestyle changes, such as a healthy diet and increased exercise, are usually the primary strategy for lowering levels. If these fail, lipid-lowering medications such as statins are generally recommended. For more on this, visit the American Heart Associationâs webpage on Healthy Living.

Test For Elevated Triglycerides

Doctors check triglyceride levels with a lipid profile, which they may refer to as a cholesterol test. In addition to measuring triglycerides, the test measures levels of HDL, LDL, and total cholesterol.

The state that a person having the test may need to refrain from drinking and eating for 812 hours beforehand. They also recommend the following:

Healthy adults should have this test every 46 years.
People with diabetes, heart disease, or a family history of high cholesterol should get the test more often.
Children should have the test at least once between the ages of 9 and 11 years.
Young people should have another test between the ages of 17 and 21 years.

Causes Of High Triglycerides

In many cases, habitual overeating causes high triglycerides. Occasionally, the trigger is an underlying condition such as:

Excessive alcohol consumption
Hypothyroidism
Some types of liver disease
Some types of kidney disease
Some genetic disorders, including the inherited disease familial hypertriglyceridemia and familial combined hyperlipidemia .

How Are Triglycerides Different From Cholesterol

Triglycerides and cholesterol are both fatty substances called lipids. But triglycerides are fats cholesterol is not. Cholesterol is a waxy, odorless substance made by the liver. It is used to build cell walls, helps the nervous system and plays an important role in digestion and hormone production.

Recommended Reading: How To Get Rid Of Bad Cholesterol

What Is This Test

This group of tests measures the amount of cholesterol and other fats in your blood.

Cholesterol and triglycerides are lipids, or fats. These fats are important for cell health, but they can be harmful when they build up in the blood. Sometimes they can lead to clogged, inflamed arteries, a condition call atherosclerosis. This may keep your heart from working normally if the arteries of your heart muscle are affected.

This panel of tests helps predict your risk for heart disease and stroke.

A lipid panel measures these fats:

Total cholesterol

Stress
High total cholesterol

If you are already being treated for heart disease, you may have this test to see whether treatment is working.

Normal Cholesterol With High Triglycerides What Is That

When measuring total cholesterol levels, low-density lipoprotein , high-density lipoprotein , and triglycerides are used in the measurement.

For adults, standard cholesterol levels are:

Less than 200 mg/dL is desirable
Between 200 – 239 mg/dL is considered borderline
Over 240 mg/dL is considered high

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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 .

How To Reduce Your Cholesterol Levels

Increased Triglycerides When Using Blood Pressure Drugs – 247nht

Thankfully, there are a variety of lifestyle changes you can make that can help reduce cholesterol levels. Better yet, these changes are fairly simple and can be adapted at any age.

For starters, you can increase your physical activity. Try to aim for 30 to 40 minutes per day of moderate cardiovascular exercise at least five times per week. This includes jogging, biking, swimming, dancing, and more.

Next, youll want to assess your diet and make some changes. Start by reducing the amount of high-saturated fatty foods you eat. This includes foods like cheese and high-fat red meats. Instead, consume healthy fats, such as avocado, olive oil, and some nuts. Adopting a healthy lifestyle can help you manage your weight and in turn help manage your cholesterol levels too.

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Having high levels of cholesterol can cause several health problems. Too much cholesterol can cause blocking in blood vessels, which may cause someone to have a stroke or experience heart problems. By keeping a healthy diet and taking regular exercise, many people can lower their cholesterol if it is too high, while some may need to take medicine for the condition.

Normal Triglyceride Levels For Children

Growing rates of obesity, physical inactivity and unhealthy eating among children continues to be a major problem in the United States. In fact, the American Heart Association notes that current rates of overweight and obese children and adolescents have tripled in the last 50 years 1 5. It should come as no surprise, then, that some children have begun to develop chronic health conditions — like high triglyceride levels — much earlier than expected. Identifying normal triglyceride levels is crucial for parents who want to ensure the health and longevity of their children.

If you are experiencing serious medical symptoms, seek emergency treatment immediately.

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What Abnormal Results Mean

High triglyceride levels may be due to:

Cirrhosis
Other medicines, such as female hormones
Poorly controlled diabetes
Disorder passed down through families in which there are high amounts of cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood

Overall, the treatment of elevated triglyceride levels focuses on increased exercise and changes in the diet. Drugs to lower triglyceride levels may be used to prevent pancreatitis for levels above 500 mg/dL.

Low triglyceride levels may be due to:

Low fat diet
syndrome
Malnutrition

Pregnancy can affect test results.

Factors That Affect Cholesterol Levels

Several factors can affect your cholesterol levels. This includes age and gender, diet, weight, exercise, and genes. For starters, its normal for cholesterol levels to rise as we get older. Women also tend to have lower cholesterol levels than men. That is until they reach menopause. After that, womens LDL levels often rise and the HDL may drop.

Furthermore, being overweight and lack of exercise can increase your TG. However, simply being more active and managing a healthy weight will help lower your TG and raise your HDL.

What you eat plays a big role in your cholesterol levels. Consuming saturated fats, trans fats, and cholesterol can all increase your cholesterol levels. Finally, if high cholesterol runs in your family, you may be at a greater risk for developing it.

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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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When To Get Your Cholesterol Levels Checked

Unhealthy cholesterol levels can be impossible to detect without the use of blood tests because they do not normally cause any obvious symptoms. That’s why heart experts call high cholesterol a silent killer.

It’s a common problem. In 2015â2016, roughly 12 percent of American adults ages 20 and older had high total cholesterol levels, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . And more than 18 percent had low HDL cholesterol levels.

Of the U.S. adults who could improve their cholesterol levels by taking cholesterol-lowering medications, only a little over half are doing so. Getting proper treatment for your high cholesterol is one of the reasons it is so important to routinely check your levels.

How often you need a cholesterol test depends on your age and risk of developing unhealthy cholesterol levels.

Read Also: How To Reduce Cholesterol Quickly

A Sign Of Metabolic Syndrome

People with metabolic syndrome are several times more likely to have a heart attack or stroke. The risk of eventually developing diabetes is even greater.

A syndrome is, by definition, a group of signs and symptoms that occur together because of an underlying condition. For metabolic syndrome, that group includes abdominal obesity , high blood pressure, high blood sugar, low HDL cholesterol and, yes, high triglyceride levels.

So as doctors have started to take metabolic syndrome more seriously, they’ve also started to pay more attention to triglyceride levels as one of its telltale signs.

Triglycerides go it alone

HDL and triglycerides are metabolically connected and are often inversely related: As triglycerides go up, HDL goes down and vice versa. But that isn’t always so. People can have “isolated” high triglycerides without low HDL levels, and research is now showing that high triglycerides are an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, no matter what the HDL is.