If you have elderly people at home, you will notice doctors asking them to conduct a complete body check-up and a series of blood tests almost every year. Even though the elderly in your family is perfectly fit and fine, still doctors ask you to get a series of tests done. wondering why? Well, these tests identify if your body has become a nest to any deadly disease. The earlier the doctors find out about the diseases, the quicker can they treat them. Likewise, one such blood test is the lipid profile blood test.
As you can understand from the name, lipid means fat. Now, don’t get shocked by reading fat. Not all fat cells in your body are damaging. To have a healthy existence, you need some healthy fat cells too. The problem occurs when these fat molecules multiply and turn into bad fat cells in your body. The only reliable method you can adopt to find out about your body’s fat cells is by undergoing a lipid profile blood test.
Since this is a medical test, you must be thinking about its significance. Well, we heard you and are here with the details. Let’s dig in.
What is a lipid profile blood test?
Through a lipid panel or lipid profile blood test, you get to know about the exact amount of fat molecules present in your blood. Of all the different types of fat molecules, this blood test measures only the lipids present in your body.
In general, the lipid panel blood test measures four types of cholesterol and triglycerides. When there is a lot of accumulation of lipids and triglycerides in your blood, they block your arteries and blood vessels. This puts you at a risk of developing cardiovascular diseases unwantedly.
The primary purpose of conducting the lipid profile blood test is:
- To evaluate if you are suffering from any cardiovascular disease
- To check your level of cholesterol
Why should you undergo a lipid profile blood test?
Generally, doctors prescribe a lipid profile blood test to patients who are suffering from heart issues. However, there can be several reasons to perform this test. So, you need a lipid profile blood test if:
- You have had a stroke or cardiac arrest in the past
- Suffer from hypertension and anxiety
- Have frequent pain and tingling sensation in the heart
- Suffer from fatty liver
Another case that demands that need for a lipid profile blood test is to ensure that the medications provided to you are all working positively. Not all medications produce the same positive impact on everyone. So, the only way to check how the medications are functioning is to conduct this lipid test.
What can you expect from the lipid profile blood test?
Have you come across a term known as lipoproteins? It is the accumulation of triglyceride and cholesterol. Through a lipid panel test, you can get a clear measurement of these components of your blood:
- Total cholesterol
- LDL or low-density lipoprotein
- HDL or high-density lipoprotein
- Triglycerides
How should you get this test?
The entire lipid profile blood test undergoes a step-by-step method. The three steps you can expect to undergo this test are as follows:
- Screening
- First and foremost, your doctor will screen you physically. In this stage, the doctors generally ask you a few questions regarding the following: Medical historyFamily medical history
If you are taking any medication at present
If you are suffering from any chronic or major health issues
If you have undergone any medical surgery in the past - Since the high levels of lipid profile blood test indicates poor heart health, your doctor will ask you about your heart in detail.
- In some cases, the doctor mentions the need for a detailed cardiac examination.
- The earlier you can reach out to a doctor for screening, the better it is for your overall health. Through these medical screenings, both you and your doctor will understand and be able to identify if there’s any serious issue growing inside your body.
- However, the kind of screening you can expect at this stage will differ and largely depend on your age.
- Depending on your current health situation, the doctor may ask you to undergo a lipid profile blood test once a year.
- But if you are an older adult over the age of 45 years, this frequency of doing the lipid test may increase.
- Monitoring
- If you are a heart patient and you are dealing with a cardiovascular issue at present, your doctor will ask you to undergo a lipid profile blood test as soon as possible.
- Since the fats get stored in your blood vessels and veins, you develop a very high risk of undergoing a stroke.
- Here, the doctor will ask you if you have ever had a cardiac arrest. Again, through this blood test, you will be able to figure out if a particular kind of treatment is working in your favor.
- After you get the results of the test and show it to the doctor for better interpretation, your doctor will decide the kind of diagnosis you need.
- Every human body is different. This means the diagnosis will also differ.
- If you have lipid panel levels higher than the normal range, your doctor will decide on the treatment depending on your age and medical condition.
- Make sure to follow all the instructions of your doctor to get relief soon.
Conclusion
Therefore, undergoing a lipid profile blood test at the right time is a must. Since this is a medical test, you must be worried about the lipid profile test price. The cost of doing this test differs from one clinic to another. However, never opt for places with too low charges as this raises a question about the quality of the test.