A good blood test...and a question

[Mr. Bloom]

I recently had a life insurance blood test and I had some personal records.

In the past, my LDL/HDL was as high as 9.2 (walking death); this one was 4.6 - A NEW LOW!

HDL has been as low as 12, not it is 42 - A new high!

In the past, cholesteral was as high as 298; this one was 192- a new low!

But, triglycerides remained elevated at 184 and GGT (liver enzyme) remains elevated (as it has been all my adult life)

The question: I forgot to fast before this blood test. Would that have elevated my triglycerides?

[michelem]

Yes, it could have done so. So does alcohol, dehydration, physical stress (including exercise), etc. That is why the 12-14 hrs. of fasting is so crucial to an accurate result. Nothing but water -- not even gum or vitamins, no smoking, no exercise.

Then there are those like my husband who go out and have a double cheeseburger with fries and a milkshake the night before his bloodwork and gets a stellar result.

[wildhawk]

My blood work is always with fasting for 10-12 hours before. One time I messed up and drank a fruit smoothie prior to one, and my doc ordered additional testing thinking that my blood sugar was too high.

[Mr. Bloom]

I'm intrigued that although I told the woman that I forgot the fasting, she was totally unconcerned. This was for a company owned policy, so I guess I was indifferent

[Crankin]

I would be turned away at the lab I go to, if I did not fast prior to cholesterol testing.
So, I might want to have the tests done again if I were you. The positive trend is awesome, but the eating could definitely influence the triglycerides.

[Miranda]

Congrats on your results and the improved scores. Exercise, weight loss, diet, etc. can all help the things that got better. The liver, hmm dunno. Interesting, sure the doc keeps an eye on that stuff specific to you. Things mentioned can certainly impact that.

Yes... not fasting can elevate the triglycerides, and effect the results.

If we had a pa show up non-fasting, we'd either not draw, or call the doc... or draw and hold the specimen and call the doc before running the test (with the understanding to the pa that they may end up getting stuck a second time for re-call). The tech should have noted non-fasting when you told her that.

Normally fasting is the standard prep, but if not, then the med tech would footnote that while running and resulting the specimen. Thus, the doc could see what potentially influenced the result if high, and go from there.

DH tris were SO high. He has lots of lifestyle and genetics things that affect it. We went on the South Beach diet as a result of the tris. Well... "I" follow the general priciples cuz they make a lot of sense anyway to me. The other half is another tale...