New method identified for confirming if kids fasted before medical testing
Researchers from the National Institutes of Health have discovered that testing children’s blood for free fatty acids could help identify whether children fasted before undergoing tests.
The study, published in Pediatrics, notes that about 6 percent of patients scheduled for a blood glucose test to determine type 2 diabetes did not fast overnight as instructed, which can result in a false reading.
But when the researchers paired the blood glucose test with a blood test for free fatty acids they learned that unlike blood glucose, which declines after a fast and increases after a meal, the blood level of free fatty acids increases after a fast and drops after a meal.
The researchers analyzed blood test results of children who participated in studies of obesity at the NIH Clinical Center. They compared free fatty acid test results of children who were admitted as inpatients - and whose food intakes were controlled by hospital staff - to those of children who participated as outpatients.
They found that 9.7 percent of outpatients had lower free fatty acid levels, indicating they probably did not fast, compared to only 1.6 percent of inpatients. The authors suggest that testing for free fatty acids may help doctors interpret glucose test results in children, decreasing the number of children who need to be re-tested for high blood sugar.
