Fasting Lipids

My GP does still do fasting bloods. I don't usually have a fasting test but as my cholesterol came back high the hospital requested I do a fasting test so that they can see more accurately the breakdown of my cholesterol eg HDL etc

Do u have a local walk in clinic nearby? Mine does fasting tests in the morning


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For a cholesterol test I still have to fast from the previous night. I thought that was the only way to get an accurate result ?


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mo1905 said:

I thought that was the only way to get an accurate result ?

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It is, you have to fast for at least 10 hours before bloods are taken.

Sandy, the reason could be down to cost as a full lipid breakdown costs more than a TC result. To me a TC result is meaningless and not worth the paper it is printed on, as we have a heightened risk of cardiovascular disease I want to know the full picture and the small cost of the test is a small price to pay IMHO.

I think a lot depends on what your "Total Cholesterol" number is like, if it is high then you will probably be offered a full lipid profile for which a fasting blood test is required to ensure that on postprandial trigs are present in the sample. If on the other hand your total cholesterol is not high or thought to be a problem then perhaps its not as necessary to have a full lipid test done.

I havent had a full lipid test done for nearly years and my last one showed trigs of 0.5 mmol/L and were much the same on all the previous tests so I assume there no longer bothering with them for me, I would think that should my cholesterol shoot up for whatever reason they might send me for another lipid test.

This is of course only my own theory on why I no longer have lipid tests done, so it is perfectly possible that I am talking rubbish... :lol:

SandyDee,
There is debate in the medical community over whether the results of your blood lipids will be significantly different fasting as opposed to unfasting.
If you mean the analysis of lipids into LDL,HDL, Trigs then yes your GP SHOULD be able to request this as the "Total lipids" is not much use as HDL,LDL, and trig figures are the meaningful ones
Anyway, as your consultant obviosly wants the "Fasting lipids", I would proceed as follows:
1) Tell GP that is what Consultant wants - can they comply?
2) If GP can't/won't comply, contact the consultant's secretary for further instructions.
It will probably be a case of "Miss Jobsworth" the GP Receptionist blindly saying "The Computer says No!"

SandyDee
The phlebotomists will not have been involved in any prescribing decisions as they have limited qualifications. Your GP will have reviewed the results and added, or instructed the admin staff to add the statin to your record, as the GP has clinical responsibility for your care.
Generally a non fasting cholesterol test gives a good indication of your total cholesterol and for many people fasting can be an issue.


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SandyDee said:

Thank you for replies, my cholesterol is borderline and as I'm T1 they've put me on statins. Apparently it's the phlebotomists who have made this decision and not the docs so I might have to make an appointment to check out the full story. If I get no joy there, then I will have to try the walk in clinic, I didn't realise they did bloods.

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Make sure you ring to check as you may need to book for an appointment. My local clinic offers a walk-in blood testing for commuters which is from 7-8am most mornings that you don't need to book for but you do need to arrive early for!