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Fasting, a prerequisite to cholesterol testing for patients, could possibly be removed as a necessary recommendation by clinics as claimed by a new study. The recent research, according to Medical News Today, from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark spearheaded by Dr. Borge Nordestgaard put forward that fasting or not fasting prior to blood testing is no longer compulsory as the act does not have any noteworthy influence on the outcomes of a complete cholesterol test which covers LDL (bad cholesterol) and HDL (good cholesterol), total cholesterol, and triglycerides, otherwise known as "lipid profile" or "lipid panel."

Nordestgaard and his colleagues which belong to the European Atherosclerosis Society (EAS) and the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) incorporated over 300,000 data in their study coming from people living in Denmark, Canada, and the United States. By measuring the cholesterol and lipids of the non-fasting data prior to cholesterol testing they understood that there are no significant changes in the levels of substances being process for blood chemistry.

"We hope that non-fasting cholesterol testing will make more patients together with their doctors implement lifestyle changes and if necessary statin treatment to reduce the global burden of cardiovascular disease and premature death," Nordestgaard pointed it out. "To improve patient compliance with lipid testing, we, therefore, recommend the routine use of non-fasting lipid profiles," he added.

Denmark which has implemented non-fasting blood sampling in 2009, as measured by the researchers have gained a lot from this practice as patients, doctors, and medical laboratories will be spending less time on return visits, phone calls, emails, and reviewing tests at a later date.

Except for Denmark, physicians in all countries have made fasting a vital component for a cholesterol test. However, even up to now there has been no clear-cut explanation on how "fasting" for at least eight to 12 hours can influence the laboratory results.