'No fasting' for cholesterol test (UK)

"Patients may not need to fast before having their cholesterol tested, a major report has found. After analysing data from 300,000 people, Cambridge researchers found results were just as accurate if the patient had eaten before the test. For decades patients have been told to fast for 12 hours prior to a test. It is hoped the study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, may inform new guidelines for doctors in the UK. Cholesterol tests have long been a key part of assessing a patient's risk of cardiovascular problems, and those who turned up having eaten breakfast were required to make a fresh appointment. It had been thought that the body needed enough time to digest food in the system and to clear any fatty particles from the blood in order to produce an accurate reading of so-called "bad" cholesterol - or low-density lipoprotein (LDL). But data from 68 long-term surveys in 21 countries suggests this is not the case - BBC