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Cholesterol Monitor

October 18th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

Cholesterol Monitoring Devices

The importance of knowing your cholesterol levels cannot be overestimated. For someone with normal levels and no additional predictive factors pointing to a danger of high cholesterol, the few tests recommened by doctors should be sufficient. For someone 20 years or older, a test every 5 years is the suggested frequency, until the results start showing high cholesterol.

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If you have high levels and a condition that adds to the problem like diabetes or the need to take medication that raises cholesterol, more frequent tests are advised. If your cholesterol cannot be controlled by diet and exercise you are taking medication, you might want a more personal kind of cholesterol monitor.

Cholesterol Testing at Home

With the success of diabetes home monitoring, medical science has been developing cholesterol tests that can be administered at home to keep track of progress using a special monitor. Cholesterol levels can fluctuate on a daily basis. For those within the normal range, this isn’t a problem.

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When your cholesterol levels are regularly at levels that can be dangerous, it can be important to monitor changes so that you can see what is working and what isn’t in your treatment regimen.

For several years instruments like the home cholesterol monitor have been delivering reliable results using a drop of blood. The test takes just a few minutes and many of the devices will keep track of the time and date of the test and store the results. Such a tool can be helpful when a patient is trying a new regimen.

Improvements can be measured as exercise is increased or diet improved. As results become better, a patient may find encouragement between doctor’s visits and keep up the good work. This alone can be very important since beginning a diet and exercise program is demanding and high cholesterol can cause depression.

Several types of cholesterol monitor are miniature computers. This allows different kinds of information to be available. A device may be able to assess current readings in conjunction with other risk factors such as smoking. While the FDA accepts the accuracy of the new types of home cholesterol monitor, some insurance companies don’t accept the need for frequent testing and don’t cover the cost of the devices and their test strips.

The need for such tests can be determined by doctors on a case by case basis. If nothing else, they help a patient participate more fully in controlling the situation.

Home Cholesterol Test

February 26th, 2007    Subscribe To Our Feed

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.

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The information on this site is provided for educational and informational purposes only, and does not constitute professional medical advice, examination, diagnosis or treatment. If you have questions or concerns about your health you should seek the advice of an appropriately qualified and licensed physician or other health care provider. Do not start new or change existing treatment without such professisonal advice.