High Triglycerides Low Cholesterol

In today’s world the words ‘cholesterol’ and ‘triglycerides’ have become frequent in everyone’s vocabulary. A couple of decades back diseases such as these were limited only to a minimum of the population. But at present more than fifty percent of the Americans are suffering from high levels of cholesterol. Because of this reason the phrase ‘high triglycerides low cholesterol’ has become quite well known.

Triglycerides are a type lipid present in the blood. Cholesterol is another lipid, synthesized by the liver and circulated in blood. Both of these lipids are essential in limited quantities for the human body to function properly. Presence of excessive amounts of these lipids will lead to high triglycerides low cholesterol levels. Even though most people are familiar with the phrase ‘high triglycerides low cholesterol’, many people are actually confused as to what it means. The main confusion is with ‘low cholesterol’ part of the phrase. Many might wonder how the presence of high levels of cholesterol can lead to a condition of ‘low’ cholesterol. The reason for this is that there are two type of cholesterol in our body call high density lipoproteins (HDL) and low density lipoproteins (LDL).

For the sake of simplicity these can be referred to as ‘good’ cholesterol and ‘bad’ cholesterol, the good cholesterol being HDL and bad cholesterol being LDL.  LDL or bad cholesterol causes heart attacks while HDL or good cholesterol prevent them. High levels of triglycerides are always associated with high levels of LDL (bad cholesterol) and low levels of HDL (good cholesterol). This leads to the phrase ‘high triglycerides low cholesterol’. Therefore the ‘low cholesterol’ in this phrase refers to good cholesterol, which actually indicates high level of bad cholesterol.

There are many reasons for a person to have high triglycerides low cholesterol levels. Today the most common causes for high triglycerides low cholesterol levels is bad diet and lifestyle. Because of the fast moving trend of the society people have conveniently ignored the benefits of a good, healthy diet and have become slaves for fast food. People also have less and less time for exercise. These two factors when combined can result in high triglycerides low cholesterol conditions. Another reason can be excessive smoking, certain medication, stress, and genetic factors.

Whatever the causes might be for the high triglyceride low cholesterol condition in your body, you can control it either with medicine or diet, or a combination of both. Before all this the first thing that you should do is to check your cholesterol and triglyceride levels at least once a year after your twenty fifth birthday. Take precautions even if the tests turn out to be negative, especially if the condition prevails in your family. Many people are convinced that they lead a healthy lifestyle. But do keep in mind that cholesterol can be a silent killer and therefore it is wise to prevent it rather than to cure it.

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