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Invited Commentary
Dec 10/24, 2012

Fasting for Lipid Testing: Is It Worth the Trouble?Comment on “Fasting Time and Lipid Levels in a Community-Based Population”

Author Affiliations

Author Affiliations: Divisions of Internal Medicine (Dr Khera), Preventive Medicine (Dr Mora), and Cardiovascular Disease (Dr Mora), Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.

Arch Intern Med. 2012;172(22):1710-1711. doi:10.1001/2013.jamainternmed.263

Lipid testing plays a major role in cardiovascular risk stratification and the assessment of lipid responses to clinical interventions. Current guidelines suggest that blood samples for lipid profiles should be obtained after a 9- to 12-hour fast.1 This requirement is not always practical for patients, who rarely present to health care providers in a fasting state. Patients often expend additional resources to return to a laboratory while fasting, and some may forgo coming back altogether. A report by Sidhu and Naugler in this issue challenges the necessity of fasting before blood collection.2

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