Triglycerides are a group of less well-known fats found in our blood. Just like cholesterol, triglycerides are essential in ensuring normal body functions.
However, excessive levels may increase the risk of heart attack and stroke and contribute to hardening of our blood vessels. In the extreme case, the high triglyceride level can induce inflammation of the pancreas also known as pancreatitis.
When one consumes more calories than what his or her body needs, the excess energy is converted into triglyceride and stored away in our fat tissue for future use.
When this process happens repeatedly over a long period, our blood triglyceride levels can go up together with our body weight.
In some cases, the high blood triglyceride level is due to some genetic problems in fat metabolism and not related to excessive energy consumption.
Besides having a direct effect on blood vessels, it is common to find people with high triglyceride level concurrently having diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
This is commonly known as metabolic syndrome which may require regular clinic follow-up.
Other conditions associated with high triglyceride levels include obesity and fatty liver; both of which are chronic diseases having significant impact on our life expectancy.
-Dr Quan
