Cholesterol Test

Overview :

A pharmaceutical corporation announced in the spring of 2004 that it had received an application to patent a device that could use saliva to determine cholesterol levels. If the test becomes available, it could make screening much more convenient and accessible.

The cholesterol test requires a sample of the patient's blood. Fasting before the test is required to get an accurate triglyceride and LDL level. The blood is withdrawn by the usual vacuum tube technique from one of the patient's veins. The blood test takes between three and five minutes.