Point Of Care: Cholesterol Testing

Blinded Diagnostics specializes in the application of point-of-care diagnostic platforms for testing patients enrolled in clinical trials.

Cholesterol, LDL, HDL and Triglycerides tests are available on a CLIA-waived point of care test platform that uses a whole blood and a small sample size. Results available in minutes. See an expanded list of POC tests at www.pointofcaresearch.com

Cholesterol is different from most tests in that it is not used to diagnose or monitor a disease but is used to estimate risk of developing a disease — specifically heart disease. Because high blood cholesterol has been associated with hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis), heart disease, and a raised risk of death from heart attacks, cholesterol testing is considered a routine part of preventive health care. For adults, in a routine setting where testing is done to screen for risk, the test results are grouped in three categories of risk:

• Desirable: A cholesterol below 200 mg/dL (5.18 mmol/L) is considered desirable and reflects a low risk of heart disease.
• Borderline high: A cholesterol of 200 to 239 mg/dL (5.18 to 6.18 mmol/L) is considered to reflect moderate risk. Your doctor may decide to order a lipid profile to see if your high cholesterol is due to the amount of bad cholesterol (high LDL-C) or good cholesterol (high HDL-C) in your blood. Depending on the results of the lipid profile (and any other risk factors you may have), your doctor will decide what to do.
• High Risk: A cholesterol greater than or equal to 240 mg/dL (6.22 mmol/L) is considered high risk. Your doctor may order a lipid profile (as well as other tests) to try to determine the cause of your high cholesterol. Once the cause is known, an appropriate treatment will be prescribed.

The risk categories for children and adolescents are different than adults. In a treatment setting, testing is used to see how much cholesterol is decreasing as a result of treatment. The

See an expanded list of POC tests at www.pointofcaresearch.com