14 Jul Fasting Prior To Lipid Measurement May Be Unnecessary

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Sripal Bangalore, MD, MHA, FACC, FAHA, FSCAI
Director of Research, Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory
Director, Cardiovascular Outcomes Group
Associate Professor of Medicine,
New York University School of Medcine
Principal Investigator ISCHEMIA-CKD trial

Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?

Dr. Bangalore: Our objective was to evaluate whether non-fasting LDL has similar prognostic significance as that of the conventionally measured fasting LDL values. We found that in an analysis of over 16,000 patients from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey that the non-fasting LDL values had similar prognostic significance as that of fasting LDL values for the prediction of long term (up to 14 years) death or cardiovascular death, thus questioning the traditional practice of insisting that patients fast prior to blood draw for a lipid panel. This was also true for other components of the lipid panel including the triglycerides and total cholesterol.

Medical Research: Were any of the findings unexpected?

Dr. Bangalore: Not really. However, it goes against traditional practice and I will not be surprised if the findings are viewed as unexpected by many.

Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Dr. Bangalore: The main take home message is that the decade old practice of insisting that patients fast prior to a lipid measurement has no scientific evidence and should be abandoned.

Citation:

Prognostic Value of Fasting vs. Non-Fasting Low Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol Levels on Long-term Mortality: Insight from the National Health and Nutrition Survey III (NHANES-III)

Bethany Doran, Yu Guo, Jinfeng Xu, Howard Weintraub, Samia Mora, David J. Maron, and Sripal Bangalore

Circulation. 2014;CIRCULATIONAHA.114.010001published online before print July 11 2014, doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.114.010001

Last Updated on July 14, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD