| There are some people who state that home | | | | level is going. |
| cholesterol (Chol.) testing is not as accurate as | | | | It is important to be able to read the numbers on |
| testing that is conducted in a laboratory. Well, this | | | | a total cholesterol home test and know what |
| may surprise you, but it is not true! There are | | | | they mean if you are to be able to understand |
| two major types of tests that you can perform | | | | whether you are in the safe zone, high cholesterol |
| at home, a full lipid profile test (the same as is | | | | zone or the borderline zone. Such a test gives |
| performed in a hospital) or a total cholesterol test. | | | | you the total cholesterol levels in a matter of a |
| With this variety of options there is no doubt that | | | | few minutes and all that you need to do is to look |
| cholesterol testing joins blood sugar tests, | | | | at the reading and find out whether your |
| ovulation kits and home HIV testing as a standard | | | | cholesterol levels are under control or not. |
| product that can be found in any American home. | | | | According to the National Cholesterol Education |
| The fact is that home kits are essential so that | | | | Program, following are the cholesterol test result |
| you can monitor your Chol. levels in the | | | | ranges and their interpretations. |
| convenience of your home without having to go | | | | - Desirable range - lower than 200 mg/dL or 5.17 |
| to a laboratory. A total cholesterol home test is | | | | mmol/L |
| meant to be able to monitor total Chol. levels so | | | | - Borderline - Between 200 mg/dL and 239 mg |
| that the 'borderline' cases can be identified before | | | | dL or between 5.17 mmol/L and 6.21 mmol/L |
| they reach the 'high red alert' zone. In addition to | | | | - High cholesterol levels - higher than 240 mg/dL |
| this, a total cholesterol test is extremely helpful in | | | | or 6.21 mmol/L |
| keeping track of Chol. levels when you have set a | | | | If the reading that you obtain on your cholesterol |
| target for yourself and want to lower your levels. | | | | test is in the desirable range, then you have no |
| A full lipid panel gives you more detail, breaking | | | | reason to worry. On the other hand if the reading |
| down the results into four categories. | | | | falls in the borderline or high cholesterol range, |
| As is the case in most medical tests that you | | | | then you might need to purchase a full lipid profile |
| perform yourself, cholesterol testing done right | | | | home cholesterol test to completely understand |
| also involves understanding the readings that | | | | the situation. The specific action that you take in |
| appear on the scale. A complete lipid profile | | | | trying to reduce the total cholesterol levels shall |
| cholesterol test will give you [a] reading for total | | | | also depend on the kind of scores that you obtain |
| Chol., low-density lipoprotein (bad Chol.), | | | | for HDL, LDL and triglycerides. |
| high-density lipoprotein (good Chol.) and | | | | Continuing to use a home cholesterol test as you |
| triglycerides. Measuring total cholesterol at home | | | | take specific steps to reduce the cholesterol |
| gives you just one number which is a fairly good | | | | levels is a good idea since you can keep a tab on |
| idea about the direction in which your total Chol. | | | | how you are faring. |