How long to fast for lipids test

Your name: is required Error: This is required. Your email: is required Error: This is required Error: Not a valid value. Send to: is required Error: This is required Error: Not a valid value. The test is one way of seeing if you are at risk and how you should be treated.

What is being tested? The test measures different things: The total amount of cholesterol in the blood The level of HDL-cholesterol often called good cholesterol The level of LDL-cholesterol often called bad cholesterol Triglycerides another type of fat in the body If you have a high level of LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides, then you have an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.

If your levels of cholesterol and lipids go down, then your risk goes down too. Why would I need this test? How to prepare for this test You will usually need to fast not have any food and only drink water for between 8 and 12 hours before having this test. These might include: quitting if you smoke keeping your weight in a healthy range limiting your alcohol and salt intake aiming for at least 30 minutes of exercise on most days Your doctor might suggest medication to help keep your cholesterol in the healthy range.

More information See Lab Tests Online for more information about testing cholesterol and lipids. Back To Top. General search results. You might be able to lower your cholesterol with lifestyle changes, such as quitting smoking, exercising and eating a healthy diet. If lifestyle changes aren't enough, cholesterol-lowering medications also might help. Talk to your doctor about the best way for you to lower your cholesterol. Mayo Clinic does not endorse companies or products.

Advertising revenue supports our not-for-profit mission. This content does not have an English version. This content does not have an Arabic version. Overview A complete cholesterol test — also called a lipid panel or lipid profile — is a blood test that can measure the amount of cholesterol and triglycerides in your blood.

Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic. Share on: Facebook Twitter. Show references Blood cholesterol. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Accessed Jan. Lab Tests Online. Lipid panel. Initially, quizzes are posted out with journals and GPs are invited to submit their answers for CME credits. Register or Log in to take part in quizzes. Don't have an account? Register to use all the features of this website, including selecting clinical areas of interest, taking part in quizzes and much more.

This item is 8 years and 0 month old; some content may no longer be current. A growing body of evidence and expert opinion suggests that fasting is not necessary prior to a lipid test in most scenarios. Non-fasting lipid test results have been shown to have only small variations compared to fasting samples, and a non-fasting result can be used reliably to calculate cardiovascular risk.

Fasting for at least eight hours prior to a lipid test has been standard practice in New Zealand and internationally for many years. However, a growing body of evidence and international expert opinion suggests that a non-fasting lipid profile can be used in most situations. This includes: 1—4. At present, the majority of guidelines recommend a fasting serum lipid test.

This recommendation is based on achieving consistency between patients and over multiple tests by ensuring a relatively standardised metabolic state. It is also because the majority of research has been performed using fasting lipids, therefore it was assumed that making comparisons and analysing risk would be less precise if using non-fasting tests.

Fasting requirements, however, are difficult for some patients and can reduce adherence with testing requests, delay results and place strain on testing facilities as a large influx of patients present for testing each morning. In addition, a fasting sample does not reflect the true biological state in which people spend the majority of their time. Fasting does not greatly alter the levels of lipid parameters. However, the differences are well within average biological variation between patients for each parameter.

Food intake has a minimal effect on lipid levels A decrease in total cholesterol, HDL and LDL is observed for up to four hours after a standard meal. Triglyceride levels are increased for six to eight hours after a standard meal. Measuring non-fasting triglyceride levels may provide additional information for determining cardiovascular risk. The body needs some cholesterol to help produce vitamin D , hormones, and enzymes that aid digestion. A cholesterol test, also known as a lipids panel, measures several different types of cholesterol, including:.

Standard practice used to require a person to fast for 9—12 hours before taking a cholesterol test, meaning that they should have no food or drink other than water during that time. However, recent guidelines have changed. They now allow doctors to recommend nonfasting cholesterol testing to certain groups of individuals.

One paper recommends nonfasting cholesterol testing, citing the following advantages of nonfasting cholesterol testing:. The author also states that research involving over , people suggests that nonfasting tests are at least as accurate as fasting tests at predicting future cardiovascular health problems. The authors believe that this difference is clinically insignificant. However, the medical community continues to debate the need for some higher-risk groups to fast before testing.

According to another analysis from the American College of Cardiology , higher-risk groups may benefit from fasting.

This is because the equation that doctors use to find the LDL level tends to underestimate the levels of LDL and triglycerides in people who do not fast. Due to this, a doctor may recommend that some people fast before a cholesterol test but suggest that other individuals do not need to.

In cases where a doctor does recommend fasting before a cholesterol test, this often means that the person must refrain from all food and drink except water for 9—12 hours before the test. A person who undergoes a fasting cholesterol test is likely to go for the test first thing in the morning so that they may eat after the test and do most of the fasting while they sleep. A cholesterol test is a simple blood test during which a technician will generally seat the person in a chair with a special armrest.

When the tube is full of blood, the technician will remove the needle and hold gauze on the site of the puncture.