Lower Your Cholesterol

How Reliable Are the Results of a Home Cholesterol Test?

The results produced by a Home cholesterol test kit like the results of many other types of home testing kits are not always accurate. The problem is usually in the application and not in the kit itself. Although the home cholesterol test has the potential to provide accurate results it often doesn't do so because it is amministered incorrectly. Also, mistakes occur when the test is taken at the wrong time. Ironically however, the home cholesterol test can actually give accurate results if done properly.

How good is the Home Cholesterol Testing Kit?

If you go to a doctor with the results of a home cholesterol test he is more than likely going to ask you to take another test and this time from the lab. They will not usually rely on a home cholesterol test because of the likelihood of administration errors. Only when the lab tests results come will they proceed with the treatment. It is not surprising that doctors generally don't trust the results the home cholesterol test despite the test itself being accurate. Obviously it is important that your treatment starts with the right cholesterol readings.

Doctors do want to take a chance because it might so happen that someone ends up taking cholesterol medication and he never even had cholesterol problems in the first place. This is why doctors usually do not take into consideration the results of any home kit when it comes to serious afflictions like high cholesterol, diabetes, etc.

However, if you have a home physician who is willing to carry out the home cholesterol test on your behalf then the test can be safely and accurately carried out at home. This makes sense because even after the test is done you would need a doctor to interpret the results anyway. That is why you might as well take a lab test rather than a home cholesterol test in the first place. The latter would only be useful when there is a doctor close by who can guide in administering it as well as in reading the results correctly.

So, even if you have taken a home cholesterol test be prepared for the test to be repeated in a lab. This way, if your home test results are wrong, you will know before you have to undergo any treatment and so avoid the treatment being based on wrong premise.

You can use a home cholesterol test kit as often as you like, especially if you suffer from a high cholesterol problem, but remember, in order to get accurate results you need to follow the instructions exactly as they written on the packet. Then confirm the report from a lab before taking medication. Never take the results of a home cholesterol test report as final.