Doctor Told Me It Is Ok to Take a Blood Test for Cholesterol and Diabetes Even Though I Ate Right Before?
Saturday, January 16th, 2010 at
4:45 pm
mishkin asked:
I am worried that he is going to come back with positive results and then insist on treatment, but those results will be too high. Would any ethical doctor allow a patient to take a blood test for diabetes and high cholesterol detection after they just ate? He did not ask what I ate.
I am worried that he is going to come back with positive results and then insist on treatment, but those results will be too high. Would any ethical doctor allow a patient to take a blood test for diabetes and high cholesterol detection after they just ate? He did not ask what I ate.
Tagged with: Blood Cholesterol • Cholesterol • Diabetes
Filed under: Diabetes
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Your doctor should have told you not to eat anything past midnight and have the blood drawn the next day.
I think it’s great that you’re aware of the situation. You’re right – he should have had you come back fasting. Your lipid profile will appear high for about the first 2 hours after a meal, whereas your glucose will peak at about 30 minutes, then drop back to (and possibly lower than) baseline within the first couple hours.
I wouldn’t say this was unethical, probably just more careless (or lazy) on his part. I bet these two tests were part of a complete blood evaluation, so he probably figured it was better to get what he could when he could (remember, a lot of patients say they’ll come back and never do). If either value is high, you will absolutely have to repeat the test following an overnight fast to get a more accurate reading.
My doctor always insists I fast before blood tests ?