The usual early morning fasting blood test for triglycerides has been challenged in studies released in the July 2007 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. New research has indicated a better result when women were tested after a meal. A study that followed 14,000 Danish women for 26 years revealed that women with the highest nonfasting triglyceride levels were 5 times more likely to die from a heart attack or another cardiovascular event than women with the lowest levels. A second study of 25,000 women, conducted by Harvard researchers, validated the first study. The results were documented independently from other risk factors such as smoking, cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Currently, the guidelines for measuring total cholesterol should be taken after 8 to 12 hours without food or drink. Unfortunately, people are not usually fasting, and the highest levels of triglycerides are circulating in the bloodstream after a meal, when they function to move and store fat. Some remnants of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins (TRL) lodge in the artery walls, reducing the diameter of the lumen. Triglyceride levels that stay elevated after a meal could be related to metabolic problems. In postmenopausal women, triglycerides are an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The studies cited indicate the need for more research on this topic. According to the American Heart Association, healthy women should keep fasting cholesterol below 200 mg/dL; HDL cholesterol above 50 mg/dL; LDL cholesterol below 100 mg/dL; and triglycerides below 150 mg/dL.
(Source: Harvard Women’s Health Watch, October 2007)
