What the heck are triglycerides ? If you do n't know , you have plenty of company . One in every three Americans has high triglyceride levels , which elevate risk of heart disease and early death . The fatty particles found in your blood are important for heart health , but do n't get nearly as much attention as , say , cholesterol . Now a new study suggests that there 's a good chance that your triglycerides are in the unhealthy zone , whether you know what they are or not . About one-third of American adults have triglyceride levels that are borderline or too high , according to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report published Monday in Archives of Internal Medicine . `` I see it as a major problem that we 've completely ignored this problem so far , '' said Dr. Børge Nordestgaard of the University of Copenhagen in Denmark . Nordestgaard has conducted research linking high triglyceride levels to cardiovascular disease and early death , but was not involved in the CDC research . `` Everyone in clinical practice seemed to be so focused on LDL , LDL , LDL [ bad cholesterol ] , people tended to forget triglycerides . '' he said . Being too heavy , getting too little activity , drinking lots of alcohol and eating lots of saturated fat can all add up to higher triglyceride levels because the body stores excess calories as triglycerides . Health.com : Fats to eat , fats to avoid . Triglycerides are a third type of fatty particle found in the blood , along with LDL cholesterol and HDL ( also known as good ) cholesterol . People taking certain medications or those who have diabetes or a genetic condition can have high triglycerides . Health.com : What cholesterol tests reveal about your heart 's health . Nordestgaard said that high triglycerides are as dangerous as high cholesterol levels as a risk marker for heart disease and early death . `` There 's a really big potential for further prevention of heart disease and strokes by getting more focused on that , '' he said . Health.com : How stress can trigger heart problems . The problem : Right now , the best way to attack high triglycerides is by losing weight , eating more healthily , and becoming more active -- a tall order for many of us . In the new report , Dr. Earl Ford of the CDC , and his colleagues looked at a nationally representative group of 5,610 people 20 and older . They found that 33.1 percent had triglyceride levels above 150 milligrams per deciliter , while 17.9 percent had levels above 200 milligrams per deciliter , 1.7 percent had levels of 500 milligrams per deciliter or above , and 0.4 percent had levels higher than 1,000 milligrams per deciliter . Triglycerides of 150 to 199 milligrams per deciliter are considered borderline high and anything above 200 milligrams per deciliter is considered too high . Men were more likely than women to have high triglycerides , while whites were at greater risk than African Americans and Mexican Americans . Very high triglyceride levels can cause inflammation of the pancreas . Although there 's increasing evidence that elevated triglycerides are associated with cardiovascular disease and early death , no one has yet shown that treating high triglyceride levels reduces cardiovascular disease , according to an editorial by Dr. Warren G. Thompson and Dr. Gerald T. Gau of the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine , in Rochester , Minnesota . Lifestyle changes -- exercising , losing weight , swapping healthy fats for unhealthy ones , and the like -- are the treatment of choice right now for people with triglyceride levels between 150 milligrams per deciliter and 500 milligrams per deciliter . According to the National Cholesterol Education Panel , higher-risk people with triglyceride levels falling in this range may also need medication . Beyond lifestyle changes , treatments for high triglycerides include statins , fibrates , niacin , and fish oil . But while fibrates reduce the risk of cardiovascular events like stroke and heart attack , Thompson and Gau note , they do n't reduce mortality and actually increase the risk of death from non-heart-related causes ; they are only recommended for people with triglycerides above 1,000 milligrams per deciliter . `` What we really need scientifically , we need companies to come up with drugs that are more efficient at particularly reducing triglycerides , '' said Nordestgaard . He usually recommends that people try statins first if lifestyle changes are not enough -- as do Thompson and Gau . Health.com : The therapeutic lifestyle changes ( TLC ) diet for heart disease . `` People with hypertriglyceridemia should talk to their physician about appropriate steps to take to bring their levels of triglycerides down , '' said Ford . `` For people with levels in the 150-500 milligrams per deciliter range , therapeutic lifestyle change is recommended . '' Enter to win a monthly Room Makeover Giveaway from MyHomeIdeas.com . Copyright Health Magazine 2009 .
Fatty particles called fat are important for heart health . One in every 100 people has high triglyceride levels , according to CDC . High triglyceride levels can cause pancreatic inflammation , heart disease etc .