Fingerstick cholesterol tests accurate?

Hello,

I just had a fingerstick test done at a health fair, total chol=250.
Results were ready in 5 minutes. Non-fasting.

This doesn't seem accurate, as my cholesterol was 179 (real lab test)
last time I had my bloodwork done in April 2007. When I had this done
in April I had already lost 30 pounds due to changing my diet and
eating healthy.

This is now October and I have lost 20 more pounds (total 50lbs since
January 2007) and I have still been eating very healthy, high fiber,
low saturated fat diet etc.

I was shocked to see 250! Are these fingerstick tests accurate? And
even if not accurate, is it possible that it is off by 70-80 points?

Thanks,
John

On Oct 3, 11:07 am, "johnj7...@yahoo.com" <johnj7...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> I was shocked to see 250! Are these fingerstick tests accurate? And
> even if not accurate, is it possible that it is off by 70-80 points?

Fingerstick tests for cholesterol dont require you to fast and only
tells you the total lipid amounts at that time in that one drop of
blood.
Concerned? Well, its been months since your last blood draw (congrats
on the weight loss!) and you really should go get one done to reflect
the HDL and LDL amounts which are more important than your overall
cholesterol count.


joanne