High cholesterol levels in a patient are also considered by many health care professionals as a ‘silent killer’ simply because in most instances there are no signs or symptoms associated with this chronic disease condition.
A common consequence of high cholesterol levels includes xanthomas (thick yellow patches of fat deposits around the eye area), ruptured plaques and blood vessels causing a stroke or heart failure, leg pain when exercising along with narrowing of the arteries causing angina. It is imperative that the patient stops eating for at least 12 hours prior to having a blood cholesterol test done.
The test involves a simple prick of the finger, extracting blood onto a test strip, and then waiting for the cholesterol screening machine to assess the cholesterol levels. The Medix pharmacy nursing sister will discuss the results with the patient and also advise the patient with the latest relevant information regarding nutrition and lifestyle changes that a patient should adopt in order to maintain normal cholesterol levels.