Triglycerides and the risk of stroke

Triglycerides
Triglycerides are a type of fat found in your blood and your fat cells. Triglycerides are the main form of fat stored in the body. They result from the digestion of fats from food, and provide you with the energy to undertake your daily activities.
Many Australians, especially those carrying too much weight around their waist, have raised triglyceride levels

Triglycerides and heart disease
The link between high triglycerides and cardiovascular disease (disease of the heart and blood vessels, such as heart attack and stroke) is complex. Raised levels of triglycerides are often part of what is known as ‘metabolic syndrome’, a condition that increases your risk of cardiovascular disease. A person with metabolic syndrome will have excess weight around the waist and at least 2 of the following:
• high blood pressure;
• raised levels of triglycerides;
• low levels of the ‘good’ high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol; or
• an abnormal fasting blood glucose.
However, researchers are increasingly recognising that raised triglycerides can by themselves increase your risk of cardiovascular disease — even if your cholesterol levels are normal

Transcript
Triglyceride particles are different than the other two cholesterol particles. Triglycerides are one of the particles that transport fat around the body. Only about 20 percent of a triglyceride particle consists of cholesterol. And the relative contribution of triglycerides to the development of heart disease has been less clear, compared to the more definite roles of LDL and HDL.