High Triglycerides Established in 1 of 5 Americans
The Center for Disease and Control of the Unite States alert their population that one in five persons in the US has high levels of triglycerides that increase their predisposition to heart attack. The study also showed that about 30 per cent of Americans have borderline levels of these blood fats.
The proponents of the study are also worried about the doubling of the percentage of people who have triglycerides in just 30 years. This may be attributed to the increased levels of obesity in the population.
The CDC is looking into possible ways to address the problems as other studies point out to only a fraction of these people with high blood fats taking medication and other steps to take care of their health.
Like LDL or bad cholesterols, triglycerides makes one prone to heart attacks. People with LDL take statins to lower their levels but this medicine is not very effective in lowering the levels of triglycerides. Triglycerides may come from fats in the body and fats of the food that people eat.
Blood samples of 5610 people who are 20 years or older were studied. During the 1999 to 2004 survey, 33.1% of the population were positive for high triglyceride levels measured at 150-199 mg/dL or interpreted as borderline high.
Around 18 per cent of the subjects were considered to have high levels of triglycerides or a reading of 200 mg/dL or higher. About two percent of the participants had a reading of 500 mg/dL.
Higher readings of triglycerides were taken from older whites who declared positive history of smoking, were obese, and had less than 2.5 hours of exercise per week. They found out that women had lower risks. Mexican and African-Americans had lower risks than whites.
Treatment guidelines may be revised as more and more data help doctors in establishing the link to bad blood fats and heart attack which is the leading cause of death in the United States.