A team of researchers from Cambridge has put forward a report which says that patients do not need to fast before a cholesterol test. Based on analysis of data collected from as many as 300,000 people, the report hopes to break a decades long myth which requires patients to fast for at least 12 hours before a test so that cholesterol levels can be accurately recorded.

The study, which is published in detail in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researched data from 300,000 patients and concluded that the test results would have been just as accurate had the patients eaten, as they were after a 12 hour fast.

"For decades, people have been asked to fast overnight before their cholesterol tests", lead researcher Professor John Danesh said. "These findings indicate that cholesterol measurements are at least as good - and probably somewhat better - when made without fasting".

Cholesterol tests have long been a good indicator of a person's risk of developing cardiovascular conditions and patients who had eaten prior to it were always required to reschedule the test. The new finding might just end up establishing new guidelines for doctors in UK.