"I admit I am not a healthy eater, lots of sweet and saturated fat, not enough exercise. Could this do it? "
YES.
Wow, so they can be really off. I tell you I have such anxiety over this. I have already made an appointment with my Dr. in 4 weeks. Meanwhile I am taking fish oil once a day, eating oat bran every morning, have gone off sweets and flour completely, and am upping the exercise. It is still a wake up call for me, to get off my bad habits.
I had one once "fingerprick" showed my total number around 280, LDL around 161. I fasted too! I went and had lab test run from my PCP and my total cholesterol was 186, LDL was 102. And this was just a week after having the fingerprick done!
I will never have one of these done again; not sure if anybody else finds them this far off.
Don't get to worked up by this free screening, see your doctor and get a fasting lipid profile done, it will be more accurate. These free tests are not always reliable.
Good Luck,
Jon
Just wanted to comment that I did not fast for this free health screening, so I don't know if that could have skewed the results. Also, is the finger method (taking from the capillary) as accurate as taking blood from the vein??