Visual Cholesterol Testmg
Strips for semi-quantitative determinationof cholesterol in whole blood
General remarks
Cholesterol is an important component of the complex structure of the humanbody, and it is involved in the production of Steroid Hormones and bile acids.Cholesterol is taken up from the food we eat, but most of it is produced by theliver. It is transported in plasma by lipoproteins, that are constituted by lipidsand apo-lipoproteins.Prevention and early diagnosis of vascular and coronary heart disease aremostly based on the determination of hypercholesterolemia, as a risk factor.
With VISUAL CHOLESTEROL strips it is possible to quickly check cholesterollevels in the blood and inform the GP to find a suitable therapy or to check-up on existing therapy.The patient can perform the test by himself or herself; test result must howeverbe put forward to the GP to monitor the interpretation of results, the therapyand diet.
Principle of test
Test is based on the reaction Cholesterol Esterase/Cholesterol Oxidase/Peroxidase/chromogen.Intensity of the colour developed by the reaction is proportional to cholesterolconcentration in the blood.
Description
Visual Cholesterol permits the semi-quantitative determination of cholesterolconcentration in human capillary blood.Cholesterol concentration is estimated by comparison with comparative cardin the range 150-400mg/dl. Comparative card is included in the box.
Intended use
For rapid determination of blood cholesterol. This test is useful to monitorcholesterolemia in people with diabetes, high blood pressure and familialhypercholesterolemia.It is recommended to check blood cholesterol concentration of all people whosmoke, drink alcohol and eat a fatty diet and are over weight or do not exerciseregularly. It is specially recommended for people with familial cases of heartdiseases before the age of 60.This test should not replace quantitative method for the determination of bloodcholesterol.
Limitation
- The system is intended for analysis with capillary blood. Do not use serum or plasma.
- If the cholesterol value obtained does not correspond to the general health of the patient and/or to the knowledge he usually has of his health conditions, the test needs to be repeated. A physician must be consulted in this case.
- Reducing agents e.g. ascorbic acid at normal concentrations, do not interfere. If high quantities are intaken, abnormally low results could be obtained.
- Samples with abnormally high Triglycerides concentration (more than 500 mg/dl) may affect the result.
- Colour-blind individuals should not use visual colour procedures.
- High haemoglobin and/or bilirubin levels could interfere with the result determining a lighter colour than the real one.
- Abnormal haematocrit values (higher than 50% or lower than 35%) can affect the results with visual cholesterol strips.
- Result is affected by high levels of steroids.
- Visual cholesterol strips are not suitable to test using neonatal blood samples.
- Recent illness, pregnancy and hormonal contraceptives may influence the cholesterol values.
- Results obtained under such conditions must be referred to the physician before any dietetic or therapeutic measures are applied.
Executing the test
Required accessories: sterile gauze, timer or watch displaying seconds, lancet.Preparation: With the watch ready by your side, pull out the comparative cardfrom the box. Wash hands with hot water and dry thoroughly.Open the strip blister before performing the test as shown below and placethe reactive strip on the comparative card
Puncture of the fingertip:Remove the protective cap of the lancet by twisting.
Press the open end of the lancet against the side of your fingertip (it will hurtmore on the FRONT of the fingertip) and press the side lever on the lancetuntil a click is heard to prick your finger. Gently press the fingertip to extracta hanging drop of blood from your finger.
Put this drop of blood on the reactive stripinside the green zone shown by the arrow>Make sure the drop completely covers theinside of the green zone .Wait 40 seconds.
After 40 seconds quickly turn the card overand compare the colour change through thehole with the matching colour on thecomparative card.This should be done within 25 seconds ofturning the card.The numerical value next to the colour givesyou the cholesterol value.
Interpretation of results
Test reading: Visual reading is affected by personal evaluation and can changefrom individual to individual. The test result is a semi-quantitative judgementbased on colour, shade and intensity. It is important to make the colourcomparison as soon as 40 seconds are up, otherwise the colour will be lighterand the evaluated concentration will be lower than the real one.
Each colourblock corresponds to a cholesterol value.
Lightest colour is cholesterol 150 mg/dl.
A reactive strip with a colour lighter than 150 mg/dl has to be considered asa cholesterol level lower than 150 mg/dl.
A reactive strip with a colour darker than 400 mg/dl has to be considered asa cholesterol level higher than 400 mg/dl.