When you think of a cholesterol test, you think of a blood test. But now, scientists at the University of Wisconsin have developed a non-invasive cholesterol test that looks at skin cholesterol levels.
For 107 million Americans, there is no end to the war against cardiovascular disease. Keeping your good cholesterol up and your bad cholesterol down is a daily struggle. And there's no guarantee that even when you get it right, it will save you from a heart attack.
Dr. James Stein, researcher at the University of Wisconsin Medical School says, "Cholesterol is not a perfect predictor. There are patients who have heart attacks with high cholesterol levels, as well as patients who have heart attacks with low cholesterol levels."
The patients doctors are most concerned about are those on the borderline, whose cholesterol levels fluctuate between being normal and a little high. According to researchers at the University of Wisconsin, a new skin cholesterol test may be one of the best options for these patients.
"A lot of people don't realize that the skin is the body's largest repository of cholesterol." says Dr. Stein. In fact, skin contains approximately 11% of the cholesterol found in the body, and it turns out to be almost like a crystal ball.
"We found that the amount of cholesterol in the skin was a good predictor of patients who had advanced atherosclerosis in their neck." Dr. Stein states. Dr. Stein and his colleagues compared the test to an ultrasound of the arteries in the neck, and the results were almost equal.
It takes just a few minutes, and involves placing a pad on the skin, adding a few drops of a chemical solution and waiting. A doctor or technician reads the color change of the area with a special tool, and the results are displayed on a computer screen.
At this point such a test would only be an addition to the gold standard blood test screening which measures the amount of cholesterol floating around in the bloodstream. But it may be helpful as an early screening tool to detect cardiovascular disease in patients without any symptoms.
Dr. Stein says, "It moves cardiovascular risk prediction back to the doctor's office, which is the place it belongs." While the cholesterol skin test was only used on 81 patients this time, Dr. Stein and his colleagues are already planning another study of several hundred patients. Right now, it's only approved for use by the FDA for sale to clinical offices in the U.S., and it's currently being used in research centers around the world.
But an at-home version of the skin test is under development, and this might be the best use of the test in the long run, one that gets patients to check on themselves, and see the doctor if it's abnormally high. The skin cholesterol test is another tool in a doctor’s medicine bag, to help patient's take charge of their heart health.
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