Question

-Edward is at your office for treatment of his allergies; you remind him that you will perform lipid and other tests at his annual physical next month and that he will need to fast after midnight. He wants to know why this is necessary. As a medical assistant, what should you tell him?

Answer 1

Edward is in the office for the treatment of his allergies. He needs to perform lipid and other tests at his annual physical next month and he needs to fast after midnight.

The following health education was given to Edward to make him understand its importance:

Edward is suffering from allergies, so it’s important to get a lipid test done as most of the allergies are caused because of the activation of Th2 type of the immune response which leads to the production of specific IgE which acts against the proteins found in things like pollen, foods, mites, etc. the allergic substances are made up of proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids. Therefore it’s important for Edward to get a lipid and other tests done. Lipid test requires fasting and therefore he has been instructed to fast after midnight for the test. This test requires fasting as the low-density lipoprotein (also called bad cholesterol) and triglyceride levels may be altered by the recent foods that may be taken by the patient. This test can also be done without fasting but for accurate results, it is better to take the test after 9-12 hours of fasting. Therefore it is usually advised to do the teat in the morning after fasting.