Do Triglyceride Tests Really Help Predict Heart Disease?
Do Triglyceride Tests Really Help Predict Heart Disease?
"This article is just one more shot in a controversial area," Rubins tells WebMD. "We've been trying to get to the bottom of this triglyceride issue for many years. I wouldn't want to have an elevated level of triglycerides myself, but there is not a lot we can do about it. We just haven't been able to get our arms around triglyceride measurements, and that suggests to me that it is not really a good test." Rubins is chief of general internal medicine at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center.
Another noted specialist -- Scott M. Grundy, MD, PhD, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas -- takes the opposite point of view. Grundy says that the study is just another in a series of analyses that miss the point.
"They might have the right answer but the wrong conclusion," Grundy tells WebMD. "Triglycerides are a marker for multiple risk factors for heart disease." He adds that they are a marker for heart disease, not necessarily a cause of the disease. "If they are a marker [for future heart disease], it doesn't mean you don't have trouble when the [level's] high. If you live in a tornado area and the siren goes off, you don't go out and treat the siren for going off. To say they are not a meaningful clinical marker is not correct."
Avins says that regardless of the predictive value of triglyceride tests, patients with higher-than-normal cholesterol levels or other risks of heart disease should take action. These include:
Although they are not conclusively proven to reduce heart disease, other important actions include moderate exercise and stress reduction.
Do Triglyceride Tests Really Help Predict Heart Disease?
"This article is just one more shot in a controversial area," Rubins tells WebMD. "We've been trying to get to the bottom of this triglyceride issue for many years. I wouldn't want to have an elevated level of triglycerides myself, but there is not a lot we can do about it. We just haven't been able to get our arms around triglyceride measurements, and that suggests to me that it is not really a good test." Rubins is chief of general internal medicine at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center.
Another noted specialist -- Scott M. Grundy, MD, PhD, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas -- takes the opposite point of view. Grundy says that the study is just another in a series of analyses that miss the point.
"They might have the right answer but the wrong conclusion," Grundy tells WebMD. "Triglycerides are a marker for multiple risk factors for heart disease." He adds that they are a marker for heart disease, not necessarily a cause of the disease. "If they are a marker [for future heart disease], it doesn't mean you don't have trouble when the [level's] high. If you live in a tornado area and the siren goes off, you don't go out and treat the siren for going off. To say they are not a meaningful clinical marker is not correct."
Avins says that regardless of the predictive value of triglyceride tests, patients with higher-than-normal cholesterol levels or other risks of heart disease should take action. These include:
- Stop smoking.
- Reduce your blood pressure.
- Get treatment for high cholesterol levels.
- Consider preventive aspirin therapy.
- Ask your doctor about drugs known as ACE inhibitors.
Although they are not conclusively proven to reduce heart disease, other important actions include moderate exercise and stress reduction.