“Fasting for at least eight hours” used to be the summary of the usual indications for any laboratory analysis. Therefore, it was imperative to get up early and drive to the blood collection site. without having eaten still drunk Nothingas “normal” preparation for a joint analysis. Now this classic annual check-up is here exceeded.
The new, scientifically confirmed recommendation indicates that only some specific exams now require long prior fasting. But most common tests give the results that the doctor needs, but without the patient having to stop eating the evening before. In fact, two hours of fasting are usually enough not to be “weak” before taking blood, which frightens and frightens more than one person.
“A few years ago, laboratories in European countries and the United States began carrying out lipid profiling studies on humans without first fasting the patient for several hours. In fact, lipid profiling assessments without fasting have been carried out in Denmark since 2009,” he said PROFILE Dr. Maria Eugenia Almagro, Technical Director of Labmedicine / Maipú Diagnostics.
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EXPERT. Dr. María Eugenia Almagro, Technical Manager of Labmedicina / Diagnosis Maipú.
According to this expert, “This idea was born because scientific evidence was gradually accumulating that suggested that, in order to obtain accurate results from many analyzes, it did not matter whether the patient had eaten something beforehand or not.”
And without a doubt, I had to go for a blood test on an empty stomach added a barrier and one difficulty extra, what the patient “perceives” when clinical studies need to be carried out. “That’s why people have been researching for years whether fasting is actually a disease. necessary. And by eliminating it, the hope was that without that requirement, people would show greater “compliance” with undergoing regular checks,” Almagro said.
Specifically: While a consensus was reached in Europe in 2016 with recommendations for analyzes in which fasting is not required to evaluate the lipid profile and other determinations, the recommendation was delayed in Argentina.
Based on increasing evidence, today in 36 countries – including the United States, the United Kingdom and Brazil – They changed their protocols and today it is already recommended to carry out the analyzes with minimal fasting or even without fasting.
Meanwhile, in Argentina the old idea continued. In fact, according to Almagro, “until 2018, the requirement that the patient fast for twelve hours to obtain a lipid profile and eight hours for the remaining analyzes was maintained.”
First changes
But little by little the novelty began to catch on. Between 2018 and 2019, some isolated places, such as the UBA Hospital de Clínicas, began to implement this idea and the Argentine Biochemical Foundation addressed the problem.
In 2023, the Argentine Association of High Complex Laboratories (ALAC) has decided to carry out a local study to verify whether it is really possible to recommend this paradigm shift and thus help users and patients in Argentina.
A dozen laboratories were involved in this scientific work, which investigated and They compared the results the results of the lipid profile, blood sugar and other blood count parameters of 129 people who fasted for eight hours, then had breakfast and had another blood sample taken.
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“The patients were divided into several groups and branches and.” they compared “The results of the analyzes of people who had a free breakfast, others who drank a coffee with milk and two croissants, compared to the results obtained after the previous traditional eight-hour fast,” Almagro recalled.
The conclusions they came to were significant: “There were no significant changes in test results when people ate breakfast two hours earlier than when they fasted for eight or twelve hours.”
According to this expert “the only cases in which maintenance may be necessary The eight-hour fasting period occurs when the patient’s triglycerides exceed 440 mg/dL. Also in patients starting treatment with drugs that cause an increase in triglycerides, recovery from pancreatitis due to hypertriglyceridemia, severe hypertriglyceridemia with follow-up in a clinic specializing in lipids. In these special situations, further additional laboratory tests are required, requiring fasting or morning sampling.”
It is striking that the lipid profile measured in the postprandial state (i.e. after breakfast) reflects the cardiovascular risk better than on an empty stomach, as it indicates the patient’s daily state and enables the detection of residues of atherogenic lipoproteins.
This modality not only offers the patient the comfort of not having to starve, but also this other advantages: Avoid prolonged fasting, which can be risky for diabetics, for example Hypoglycemia. That’s it too It greatly simplifies compliance in older and younger patients.
Eventually, the adoption of this modality should occur help waste less time when you have blood drawn. “The ability to perform these analyzes after a light breakfast or in the afternoon should help Relieve the usual overload of patients “This is usually noticed when the labs are crowded with people in the early hours of the morning,” Almagro concluded.
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