Posted on August 17, 2009 in Latest News
This article tries to understand what is The Fasting Lipid Test.
What is Fasting Lipid test?
- It is the name given to a group of blood test done after 16 hrs of fasting.
- Its purpose is to measure the Cholestral level in our blood so that we can ascertain the risk of heart diseases in us.
- This test is also known as Lipid Profile Test.
- This test involves measuring certain parameters like total Cholestral,High density lipiprotein Cholestral (HDL-C) also called good cholestral, Low density lipoprotein Cholestral (LDL-C) also called bad cholestral and Triglecerides.
About the Parameters of Liquid Profile Test:
- It is a fatty substance found as the outer membrane of the cells in our body.It is produced in the liver.
- It is found in the food stuffs of animal origin like meat,poultry and diary products.
- Special Proteins called Lipoproteins carry them through the blood stream to different parts of our body.
- There are two types of Lipoproteins called High density lipiprotein Cholestral (HDL-C) also called good cholestral, Low density lipoprotein Cholestral (LDL-C) also called bad cholestral.
The LDL: It carries the cholesterol in our blood. Presence of LDL above desired level leads to thickening of the walls of the artery. This makes the arteries narrow.It causes shortage of the supply of blood and oxygen in sufficien amount for the proper functioning of the heart. The patient complains of heart ailments.That is why, LDL is called a bad cholestral.
The HDL: It removes the excess of the cholestral from the walls of the arteries making them wide enough for the flow of sufficient blood and oxygen to the heart. That is why it is called good cholestral.
Triglycerides:The food we take contains calories which provide energy to our body. The extra calories of the food become triglycerides and are stored in the fat cells of our body for later use.If we eat more than the calories we burn, the blood has high levels of triglycerides.
The Fasting Lipid Test is recommended to healthy people at least once in 5 years.
Comments
Leave a Reply