Triglycerides

UK laboratories commonly print an upper limit of 2.3 mmol/L for a non-fasting sample and 1.7 mmol/L for a fasting one; the figure depends heavily on when the last meal was eaten.

Triglycerides are the main form in which fat is stored in the body and carried in the blood after a meal. They are made from the fat and sugar in food and are packaged into particles that deliver energy to muscle and fat tissue. The test measures how much triglyceride is in the blood at the moment the sample is taken.

It is part of the standard lipid profile that doctors use when looking at heart and circulation health. Very high levels are also one of the things looked at when the pancreas becomes inflamed.

• A meal in the hours before the test
• Alcohol
• Being overweight, type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance
• A diet high in sugar and refined carbohydrate
• An underactive thyroid and kidney disease
• Some medicines, including steroids, some water tablets, oestrogen and some acne treatments
• Inherited patterns of lipid handling

• Weight loss and regular exercise
• Cutting down on alcohol and sugar
• Fish oil, fibrates and statins
• An overactive thyroid
• Poor nutrition

• Eating in the hours before the test is the commonest reason for a figure above the fasting range
• Alcohol the evening before pushes it up
• It varies a good deal from day to day in the same person

The figure depends on food and alcohol in the preceding hours, so note whether the sample was fasting. A single high value is usually repeated, and the trend matters more than one result.

Written by a UK consultant physician. Typical UK adult reference ranges; your laboratory's own printed range takes precedence.