# Waxy oily blood - whats the cause?? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 26, 2017, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waxy-oily-blood-whats-the-cause/783064 "2017-03-26T07:25:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![teddybound](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e7dd6/32.png) [@teddybound](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teddybound)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waxy-oily-blood-whats-the-cause/783064/1 "2017-03-26T07:25:56Z")
Recently I went for a routine blood test. The lab technician who ‘spun’ my blood after drawing said my blood was considerably oilier than what he has seen. He said it wasnt visible until he spun the blood. It was a deja vu moment as several years ago my doctor gave a similar comment (said it was thick) but explained it could be high cholesterol. She commented before the blood was spun, just simple observation. I asked my current specialist but she didnt have an answer. It didnt seem to be a concern to her. My report came out generally no concerns - though cholesterol wasnt tested. What causes oily blood?? My lab technician asked what I ate the day before - i think it was sashimi but would it affect?? ---
**Author:** ![steatopygia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steatopygia/32/3132_2.png) [@steatopygia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steatopygia)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waxy-oily-blood-whats-the-cause/783064/2 "2017-03-26T08:11:11Z")
I have (very rarely) seen clumps of an orange fatty substance in blood. I would get your cholesterol checked. I’m not sure what I observed was lipids but it seemed likely. This was unspun blood. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waxy-oily-blood-whats-the-cause/783064/3 "2017-03-26T10:26:16Z")
Sheesh, with all that, you’d think they’d want a cholesterol test at least! I’d ask for one, if I were you. ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waxy-oily-blood-whats-the-cause/783064/4 "2017-03-26T10:28:20Z")
Its a foregone conclusion… the test was done, thats the result. high cholesterol. How’s your liver ? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waxy-oily-blood-whats-the-cause/783064/5 "2017-03-26T11:17:24Z")
> [@teddybound](#): > > What causes oily blood?? My lab technician asked what I ate the day before - i think it was sashimi but would it affect?? If you have sufficiently high blood cholesterol/lipids that it’s visible after the blood is “spun” then you have some serious problems, and it wasn’t the sashimi. Get your cholesterol checked and if it’s high get some professional help. My mom lived into her late 70’s with the problem of sky-high cholesterol, but it required quite a bit of medical intervention. You didn’t say how old you are, but you could be headed for some serious heart and circulatory disease. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waxy-oily-blood-whats-the-cause/783064/6 "2017-03-26T12:06:56Z")
We prefer that real-life personal medical or legal questions be started in IMHO rather than General Questions. Moved so you can get opinions as well as factual medical answers. **samclem** , moderator. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2017, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/waxy-oily-blood-whats-the-cause/783064/7 "2017-03-26T13:12:45Z")
I always thought the reason for fasting twelve hours prior to a blood draw was to avoid lipemia, which can affect certain results.