Among men, the sort of person who is likely to get a hernia is not necessarily the one who lifts a lot of heavy weights. A hernia can occur just like that when you exercise, cough, strain on your toilet or even as a result of lively sex life.

It is to be noted that hernias occur due to muscle weakness, often near the abdomen area. Hernias occur due to weakness of the cavity wall. These points get weak when there is a natural gap due to a blood vessel passing by or when there is a digestive tube in that place, it can also be due to some sort of scar tissue.

Hernia is first felt when you get a feeling like something has just popped in your belly area or something gave way suddenly.

What are the types of hernia?

A hernia is usually named based on its location in the body.

Inguinal Hernia

These are the common type of hernias. The inguinal canal is where the testes descend before birth. This canal has the spermatic cord and blood vessels. When an inguinal hernia occurs, part of the intestine juts down the canal into the scrotum.

Umbilical Hernia

An umbilical hernia is caused when the abdominal wall gets weakened in the umbilical cord area. This mostly occurs in children.

Femoral Hernia

The femoral hernia occurs when part of the intestine protrudes through the femoral canal and then juts into the top of the thigh.  The femoral canal is where the main blood vessel passes into the legs.

Epigastria Hernia

This type of hernia occurs when fat or sometimes intestine protrudes through the abdominal wall between the navel and the breastbone.

Ventral Hernia

This is a hernia that occurs in the abdominal wall which is weakened due to scar tissue and this could be due to a surgery or a trauma.

Obturator Hernia

This type of hernia occurs when a part of the stomach juts through the gap between the bones of the front pelvis.

Hiatus Hernia

When the upper part of the stomach protrudes through the diaphragm usually through the esophagus opening.

What causes hernia?

With the exception of a hernia caused by complications due to a surgery, in most hernia cases there is no apparent reason. But the risk of hernia does increase with age and occurs more in men than in women. Activities and medical problems that increase pressure on the abdominal wall usually leads to hernia.

The causes may include, straining on the toilet, persistent cough, cystic fibrosis, enlarged prostate, straining during urination, obesity, lifting heavy weights, abdominal fluid, peritoneal dialysis, poor nutrition, smoking, undue physical exertion and undescended testicles.

What are the treatments for hernia?

Open or laparoscopic surgery is the remedy and found to be greatly successful both in children and adults.

Triglycerides are the fat content in your blood. The blood receives this fat from the food we eat. Oil, margarine, butter, ghee and most other fats in our food forms triglycerides. Blood absorbs them from the intestine after we eat and the food is processed in our stomach.

The body also turns extra calories from simple carbohydrates such as white bread, candy, sugar and alcohol into triglycerides and stores them in the fat cells of our body.

Triglycerides & Cholesterol

Triglycerides are not cholesterol as commonly mistaken. Both are known as lipids, but only triglycerides are fats. On the other hand cholesterol is just a waxy substance that is produced in the liver and intestine (though some of it comes from the food as well) that helps make cell membranes and hormones in the body. Cholesterol also helps in metabolism.

What are lipoproteins?

Triglycerides can’t move around in the blood on their own, so they attach to certain proteins called lipoproteins. This is how they are able to move around in the body until they get stored in the fat cells.

How to test triglyceride levels?

Your doctor will test triglycerides and cholesterol together by taking a sample of your blood. Prior to this you may be asked to avoid certain foods or drinks or stop eating for half a day to get an accurate result. The blood will then be tested in a lab.

What is lipid profile?

Lipid profile is a test that tells the levels of good (HDL) cholesterol, bad (LDL) cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood. The physician will use a formula to arrive at a single number that shows the total blood cholesterol levels. A high number shows that you are at higher risk of getting heart disease. Factors like age, smoking, alcohol, blood pressure and other things may affect the result too.

Is fasting required before the test?

Triglycerides levels shoot up after you have had food. That is why there is a probability that your doctor may ask you not to eat or drink at least 12 hours before the test. Your diet, drinking alcohol, menstrual periods (for women), time of the day and exercise preceding the test will influence the results considerably.

Norms to check your triglycerides

Check your triglycerides by using the following numbers for guidance. The results are after 12 hour of fasting.

• Desirable: Less than 150 mg/dL (1.7 mmol/L)
• Borderline high: 150 to 199 mg/dL (1.7-2.2 mmol/L)
• High: 200 to 499 mg/dL (2.3-5.6 mmol/L)
• Very high: 500 mg/dL or greater (5.6 mmol/L)

Do higher values cause symptoms?

Higher values usually do not cause any symptoms but it is always good to test your lipid levels, including triglycerides on a regular basis. High levels can be a sign of other conditions including heart disease. Higher values also may be due to obesity, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes and thyroid disease.

Triglycerides related to insulin resistance in body

Increases risk of pancreatitis also

LDL – Bad cholesterol,  increase heart risk

HDL – Good cholesterol, increased by exercise, balanced diet.