cholesterol screening at home

cholesterol blood test at home

Since 1993, cholesterol tests have been available over-the-counter at local pharmacies. These cholesterol tests have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and have some important advantages including:

• When used correctly, they are accurate up to 95% of the time.

• Readily available--you don't need a prescription to use one.

• Relatively inexpensive--the average cost per cholesterol test is about $14.00.

However, there are some drawbacks to using a home cholesterol test which can hurt in the long run, for instance:

• Many people forget to fast when taking a home cholesterol test, which can cause your test results to be much higher than they actually are.

• Most home cholesterol tests only give you a total cholesterol reading. Therefore, you will be missing vital information about HDL and LDL levels, which give you a true insight into how bad your cholesterol levels might be.

• Some individuals, when testing high for cholesterol on one of these tests, may be reluctant to get the follow up care they need.

In this case, your health care practitioner needs to further test you in order to determine how high your different cholesterol levels and triglycerides truly are and to take the appropriate measures to lower them.

types of ldl cholesterol

There are newer home cholesterol tests that are digital and also seem to be highly accurate. These newer tests also give LDL, HDL, triglyceride, and glucose readings.

However, it is best to consult with a health care practitioner concerning this, because although a diagnosis is the first step to recovery, it is the follow up care that could save your life!