High triglycerides indicate cholesterol levels in your bloodstream. A desirable level is approximately 200 mg/dL whereas 240 mg/dL and above equates to high blood cholesterol, which puts you at greater risk for certain diseases, according to the American Heart Association. Eating a low-fat and balanced diet can improve your triglyceride levels. In some cases, you may also benefit from medication.
Arterial Disease
There are two main risks of arterial disease due to high triglyceride levels, according to MayoClinic.com. Carotid artery disease develops when cholesterol, or plaque, builds up within the arteries. The carotid arteries are the main passageways that feed blood to the brain from either side of neck. In the absence of oxygen-rich blood due to constricted arteries, you can experience a stroke. Symptoms include numbness and weakness, slurred or garbled speech and the sudden onset of blindness, MayoClinic.com says.
Peripheral arterial disease is the constriction of blood in the legs, arms and pelvis. The condition will appear as painful cramps in the thigh or calf muscles, numbness and coldness in the legs or feet, color changes, erectile dysfunction and sores in the region that refuse to heal.
Angina
Angina occurs when high triglyceride levels in the blood completely obstruct arterial pathways, which results in chest pain and discomfort due to the lack of blood in the heart. You may experience pressure or squeezing within the chest, MedlinePlus reports. It can also appear in the shoulders, arms, back and jaw.
Stable angina is when the heart works faster in response to the environment, like exercise, and usually doesn't require medical attention. Unstable angina, however, requires immediate medical response as symptoms will occur in a resting state usually indicating a heart attack, according to MayoClinic.com
Atherosclerosis
High blood triglycerides do not have any immediate or obvious symptoms, which make regular physicals essential to monitoring your health properly. The build-up of cholesterol within the arteries can cause hardening over time resulting in atherosclerosis, according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. This plaque build-up can occur anywhere within the body causing complications.
