Cholesterol test

Lipid profile
Medical diagnostics
ICD-10-PCS	AuthenticationFG
ICD-9-CM	LOAD&ACTION.LOAD
MeSH	-
MedlinePlus	003491
eMedicine	-
LOINC	24331-1, 57698-3
[]

Lipid profile or lipid panel is a panel of blood tests that serves as an initial broad medical screening tool for abnormalities in lipids, such as cholesterol and triglycerides. The results of this test can identify certain genetic diseases and can determine approximate risks for cardiovascular disease, certain forms of pancreatitis, and other diseases.

Lipid panels are commonly ordered as part of a physical exam, along with other panels such as the complete blood count (CBC) and basic metabolic panel (BMP).

The lipid profile typically includes:

Using these values, a laboratory may also calculate:

The lipid profile tests are of 7 types:

(a) Chylomicrons (b) LDL-low density lipoprotein (c) VLDL- very low density (d)HDL-high density

Current recommendations for cholesterol testing come from the Adult Treatment Panel (ATP) III guidelines, and are based on many large clinical studies, such as the Framingham Heart Study.

For healthy adults with no cardiovascular risk factors, the ATP III guidelines recommend screening once every five years. A lipid profile may also be ordered at regular intervals to evaluate the success of lipid-lowering drugs such as statins.

In the pediatric and adolescent population, lipid testing is not routinely performed. However, the American Academy of Pediatrics and NHLBI now recommend that children aged 9–11 be screened once for severe cholesterol abnormalities. This screening can be valuable to detect genetic diseases such as familial hypercholesterolemia that can be lethal if not treated early.

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Wikipedia