Saturday, May 18, 2013

Testing Cholesterol & Glucose in Diabetes, not only Blood Pressure & Glucose

By David Mendosa, Health Guide Saturday, September 09, 2006
My recent review of the Duo-Care for testing both blood pressure and blood glucose got me thinking. I wasn’t thrilled with that combination. But many of us with diabetes have high cholesterol. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a meter that tests both blood glucose and cholesterol? We can, ...
Anonymous
Steve
9/12/06 8:21am
There are direct-to-consumer testing laboratories as well. I've had excellent results using Direct Laboratory Services at http://www.directlabs.com/ for tests my insurance provider refuses to cover. You might consider doing a piece on direct-to-consumer testing services.
Anonymous
Peter James
9/12/06 12:17pm
David, I'm not sure, but my impression always had been that cholesterol testing was a bit like HbA1c: it moves around slowly enough that the gain from testing weekly doesn't justify the pain, effort and cost. I bow to you, naturally, if I am mistaken... Thanks for the review. Peter David's Response: That's an interesting point, Peter, and I haven't seen it directly addressed anywhere. However, the expert panel of the National Cholesterol Education Program does say, "Adjustment of therapy may be needed after 12 weeks." This implies to me that except for the very small minority of us who have satisfactory cholesterol levels we need to test at least every 3 months. But as you say, certainly not weekly.
Anonymous
Nisa
9/20/06 9:23pm
Interesting timing. I was wondering if there could be an easier way to keep track of things without copays and pill pushing. I came across a place called Global Health Innovations that where you can set up tests at Labcorps locations. A basic cholesterol panel is $20. I have not tried it yet but it definitely hit my bookmarks.
Anonymous
David C
11/30/06 10:07am
I have used a number of the Direct-to-Consumer labs and have found that MyMedLab.com is by far the best. The cost, the service and the educational material is hands down the best out there. Each one of their test descriptions includes a link to the National Library of Medicine that provides tons of information about each test and what conditions are associated with them. In addition to offering individual tests, they offer very affordable Wellness Profiles based on your age, sex and family history. They service is designed to allow you to create your own Confidential Health Record where all of your results are permanently stored. The results never become part of your permanent medical record unless you provide them.

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By David Mendosa, Health Guide— Last Modified: 07/08/12, First Published: 09/09/06