DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Every year I see my doctor, and every year he says the same thing to me: “Your triglycerides are too high. Lose some weight.” That’s the end of the discussion. I am 5 feet 10 inches tall and weight 175 pounds. Is weight loss the only thing to do for triglycerides? Incidentally, I wouldn’t mind learning what they are. – A.C.

ANSWER: Triglycerides belong to the same class of foodstuff that cholesterol belongs to – lipids. If you could see and feel cholesterol that’s become solid, it would look and feel like wax. If you could see and feel solid triglycerides, they would look and feel like plain, ordinary fat.

Interest has focused on triglycerides because they might be involved with artery clogging, along with cholesterol. They’re not in the same league with cholesterol, but high triglyceride readings deserve some attention.

Triglycerides should be measured only if the person has fasted. Nonfasting values provide no useful information. A normal level should be less than 150 mg/dL (1.7 mmol/L).

Your doctor is right. Weight loss brings down triglycerides. You’re not obese. There are other things you can do. One is getting omega-3 fatty acids into your diet. You can do that by eating two fish meals a week. Cut back on the amount of alcohol you drink. Limit the amount of sugary foods eaten. Stay away from fat: the visible fat on meats and whole-fat dairy products. If you base your diet on fruits, vegetables and whole grains, triglycerides will fall. Get in some daily exercise.

When there is a pressing need to lower triglycerides, medicines like Lopid bring them down.

There is a situation when triglyceride treatment calls for immediate intervention. That’s when levels are very high, 500 to 1,000. In those instances, the high triglycerides lead to pancreas inflammation – pancreatitis, a most serious condition.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: In the 1960s when I was pregnant with my son, I was prescribed DES to prevent a miscarriage. My son was born full-term and healthy, and he has been healthy all his life. Now he is a father of a newborn son. Could this child suffer any consequences from my having taken DES when I was pregnant with his father? – D.F.

ANSWER: During the times when it was used, DES – diethylstilbestrol – was thought to be a good idea for pregnant women threatened with having a miscarriage. Then it was noted that a few daughters of women who took this hormone developed an unusual kind of vaginal cancer. DES treatment was stopped and hasn’t been used since 1971.

Some sons of DES mothers also had problems. In a few, the testicles failed to descend from the abdomen, where they are for most of fetal life, into the scrotum.

To date, studies of grandchildren of DES grandmothers haven’t found any evidence that these children suffer consequences from their grandmother’s treatment. Studies are still ongoing.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: For 10 years, I hadn’t seen my sister. This past winter she paid me a visit with her two girls, ages 15 and 19. Both of them are delightful young women and appear healthy. The 19-year-old would disappear from our midst quite often and head to the bathroom, where she would stay for at least half an hour. My sister told me she has a compulsion to wash her hands all the time. I didn’t nose into this because it seemed to be a sensitive matter. I am quite curious. What’s going on with this girl? – M.S.

ANSWER: She has obsessive-compulsive disorder, a common psychological problem. An obsession is an uncomfortable thought that keeps intruding itself into a person’s consciousness. The compulsion is an action or series of actions that a person is forced to do to suppress the anxiety of the obsession. It could be hand-washing, straightening furniture, touching things or any number of ritualistic acts. Millions suffer from the disorder.

Medicine and talk therapy usually can free people from this disruptive illness.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com