A routine blood test can identify very high triglycerides in minutes. For many patients, understanding their risk and getting the care they need can take years.

That simple reality reflects one of the greatest missed opportunities in cardiometabolic care today.

Every day, healthcare professionals identify people with severe hypertriglyceridemia, commonly known as very high triglycerides, through laboratory testing. Clinical guidelines clearly define severe hypertriglyceridemia and provide evidence-based recommendations for evaluation, treatment, and reducing the risk of one of its most serious complications: acute pancreatitis, a life-threatening medical emergency. For many people, a diagnosis of very high triglycerides becomes little more than an entry on their medical record.

The result is a care journey that patients often navigate on their own, with consequences that reach far beyond clinical care. Many never fully understand their diagnosis, what may be contributing to it, what it means for their health, or how the condition should be managed over time. They may never be referred to lipid specialists, registered dietitians, or other clinicians with expertise in managing very high triglycerides. Instead, they spend years searching for answers, coordinating care across disconnected providers with variable expertise in triglyceride management, and piecing together information that should have been provided at the time of diagnosis. Perhaps most concerning, many people may not understand that very high triglycerides can put them at risk for acute pancreatitis until they experience a medical emergency themselves.

This is what it means to be Hidden in Plain Sight.

Drawing on lived experience, clinical and advocacy perspectives, and published research, this advocacy-led white paper explores gaps in the recognition and care of very high triglycerides and what it will take to close them.