Fasting Before Blood Cholesterol Test In Diabetes - Why You Shouldn't Do It?

If you are diabetic, you must have been going for empty stomach blood cholesterol tests to know the sugar level in your body. If this is true, you should be worried as a new study claims that this habit causes more harm than good.

Diabetic people have a higher level of bad cholesterol in their bodies, which leads to excessive fat in the arteries. Due to the same reason, doctors suggest the patients to go for regular blood cholesterol tests.

As per the orthodox guidelines, the patients are recommended not to consume anything except water, as it may affect the results. The new study, however, claims that this is not necessary and may be harmful in some cases.

The study conducted by specialists at Michigan State University in East Lansing claims that fasting before a blood cholesterol test may boost the blood sugar level, or hypoglycemia, in the patients who take insulin.

Fasting leads to FEEHD:

The study was conducted on over 500 diabetes patients in Michigan. In the study, the specialists found out that the people with diabetes were more prone to face fasting-evoked en route hypoglycemia (FEEHD) if they fasted before going for blood cholesterol test.

In this condition, the blood sugar levels become very low, which leads to faintness, confusion and dizziness. These problems become so severe that people can experience life-threatening conditions when outside their home.

Updating of guidelines:

The experts at the Michigan State University say that fasting before the blood cholesterol test is a guideline which was set back in the 1970s, and the doctors in Canada and most European countries no longer use it.

It is time for Indian doctors too to amend the guidelines before a blood cholesterol test while suffering from diabetes to ensure good health of their patients.