Common Blood Tests and What They Reveal About Your Health
Introduction
Have you ever received a blood test result and thought that you have no idea what that means? You are not alone; many people regard a blood test as something their doctor just does, and seldom do they appreciate the wealth of information contained in a single blood sample. In fact, a single blood test can give you an amazing amount of data about your overall health, help you identify diseases before they present themselves, and help prevent life-threatening medical problems.
One of the first things that healthcare professionals realize as they progress through their career is that many diseases do not present themselves with any “tell-tale” signs. Conditions such as diabetes, high blood cholesterol, thyroid disorders, anaemia and kidney disease can often develop quietly, and by the time any symptoms develop, they have progressed to advanced stages. This is one of the reasons why routine labwork/ blood testing is one of the best preventive health care tools available.
Table of Content:
- Introduction
- Why Blood Test Results Matter More Than You Might Think
- Complete Blood Count (CBC) – A Window to Your Overall Health
Blood Sugar Testing: Tracing Diabetes Before there is Injury
The Lipid Profile: Measuring Heart Health
- Liver Function Tests (LFTs): Protecting Your Body’s Chemical Factory
- Kidney Function Tests (KFTs): Monitoring Your Body’s Natural Filters
- Thyroid Function Tests: The Hormones That Influence Your Entire Body
- Vitamin Deficiency Tests and Nutritional Deficiency Tests
- Testing Markers of Inflammation – Detecting Hidden Inflammation
- Reasons To Consider Regularly Scheduled Blood Testing
- Interpreting Your Test Results
- Conclusion
Why Blood Test Results Matter More Than You Might Think
Blood is what carries oxygen, nutrients, hormones, immune cells and waste products throughout the body. Since all organs are in communication with your blood, even minor changes in the composition of your blood will give you major indications about your health.
Blood tests that are done routinely can help doctors figure out many health issues (nutritional deficiencies, infections, hormonal issues, inflammation, organ dysfunction and long-term illnesses) long before they become an issue. You can understand what is going on inside your body and take early steps to correct it – instead of waiting until you feel bad.
Complete Blood Count (CBC) - A Window to Your Overall Health
The CBC or Complete Blood Count is one of the most commonly ordered blood tests. A CBC looks at many different aspects of your blood. These include: Red Blood Cells, White Blood Cells, Haemoglobin, Platelets, and Haematocrit.
For instance, a decreased haemoglobin level may point to anaemia, while an increased white blood cell count could indicate either an infection or inflammatory process occurring. In addition, abnormal levels of platelets may indicate a bleeding disorder or other pathology. If you experience symptoms such as fatigue, dizziness, weakness, repeated infections, or a significant fever that doesn’t have a clear cause; obtaining a CBC will assist you in evaluating the cause of your symptoms.
Blood Sugar Testing: Tracing Diabetes Before there is Injury
Diabetes is one of the most prevalent health problems today, and there are thousands of people who have high blood sugar without even being aware. Three tests for measuring blood sugar that physicians usually recommend are:
- Fasting Blood Sugar (FBS)
- Post Prandial Testing (PPBS)
- (HbA1c) – The HbA1c test measures your blood sugar for 2 to 3 months prior, and can help identify the progression of diabetes or prediabetes, giving you the time needed to adjust your nutrition & physical activity habits, to reduce your possibility of serious health complications such as damage to your heart, urine & eyesight, plus damage to your nerves.
Tests conducted before eating (fasting) and after eating (post-prandial) only show how much sugar was present in someone’s blood at one given time, whereas HbA1c shows how much sugar has been in an individual’s system over the last 2-3 months (i.e., this is why it’s called average blood glucose level). If you are diagnosed with prediabetes or diabetes, you will then have the chance to make lifestyle changes (such as eating healthier foods, increasing your physical activity level, managing your weight, etc.) and, therefore, decrease your chances of developing heart problems, kidney failure, vision impairment/disease, and nerve damage.
The Lipid Profile: Measuring Heart Health
High cholesterol (which has no symptoms) is still one of the leading risk factors for heart attack/stroke.
The Lipid Profile determines:
- Total Cholesterol
- LDL
- HDL and other lipid parameters.
Liver Function Tests (LFTs): Protecting Your Body's Chemical Factory
Your liver does hundreds of things for you every day – from detoxifying harmful substances from your body to storing vitamins and nutrients to producing proteins.
Liver function tests measure your liver by looking for specific enzymes and proteins in your blood (like SGPT/ALT, SGOT/AST, bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, and albumin). These tests can help detect many types of liver conditions, including:
- fatty liver disease
- hepatitis
- alcohol-related liver problems
- medication-related liver injury
- Bile duct problems
Fatty liver disease is becoming increasingly common in young adults today because of the sedentary lifestyle and obesity crisis. That’s why it is so important to have regular LFTs done to monitor your liver.
Kidney Function Tests (KFTs): Monitoring Your Body's Natural Filters
Healthy kidneys filter out your body’s waste products while keeping your fluid balance and electrolyte levels in check.
Kidney Function Tests include lab tests that measure:
- Creatinine
- Blood urea
- Electrolytes
- Estimated glomerular filtration rate.
.Kidney disease usually evolves silently; therefore, individuals with diabetes, hypertension, or a family history of kidney disease should have KFTs done regularly to identify kidney disease before irreversible damage occurs.
Thyroid Function Tests: The Hormones That Influence Your Entire Body
The thyroid gland controls the way in which the body metabolizes, produces energy, and regulates its temperature, heart rate, and hormones. A person’s thyroid function can be determined using the following lab tests: TSH, T3, and T4.
The presence of a thyroid disorder may cause various symptoms such as:
- Fatigue
- Weight gain or weight loss
- Hair loss
- Changes in mood
- Anxiety
- Constipation Changes in menstrual cycle regularity and
- Difficulty concentrating
Due to the nature of these symptoms and their overlap with many other conditions, blood tests are the best way to accurately assess thyroid function.
Vitamin Deficiency Tests and Nutritional Deficiency Tests
Feeling tired all of the time can be a result of many things, including overworking yourself or simply a lack of the proper nutrients.
Nutritional deficiencies are common and the following are essential nutrients that people are often deficient in:
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin B12
- Iron
- Ferritin
- Folate
If you have a deficiency in one or more of these vitamins or nutrients, you may experience fatigue, muscle weakness, poor immune system function, numbness, memory loss, brittle nails, and/or hair loss. Testing for deficiencies can typically be accomplished with easy blood tests and an improvement in nutrition is usually all that is necessary to correct deficiencies.
Testing Markers of Inflammation - Detecting Hidden Inflammation
ESR (Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate) and CRP (C-Reactive Protein) are two simple tests that are used to measure inflammation in the body.
They will not identify a specific disease; however, they can provide valuable information for doctors that can be used to identify possible:
- Bacterial infections
- Autoimmune disorders
- Chronic inflammatory disease
- Long-term or chronic condition
These tests are especially useful when the patient has a persistent fever.
Reasons To Consider Regularly Scheduled Blood Testing
Regular blood tests are extremely valuable even if you believe to be healthy, and are particularly important when :
- You are over 30 years old
- You have a family relative that has history of diabetes, heart disease or a thyroid disorder,
- You have high blood pressure,
- You are overweight/obese,
- You smoke or drink alcoholic beverages on a regular basis,
- You are experiencing fatigue or have unexplained changes in your weight,
- You have an existing diagnosis or medical disorder that requires regular testing by your physician to monitor.
Regular preventive health checks may allow early discovery of problems before they start to affect the patient on a daily basis.
Interpreting Your Test Results
A frequently misunderstood concept about lab tests is that every lab result which is abnormal means that the patient has a severe illness. When evaluating blood test results, lab results need to be evaluated along with the physical exam the patient received at the time of having a blood test, the patient’s medical history, the patient’s current medications and the patient’s lifestyle; therefore, if a lab result is abnormal (i.e. high, low or out of range), the physician may order another blood test on the patient to determine if the abnormal (i.e., out of range) is significant enough now to warrant treatment. On the other hand, just because a patient has received a normal blood test and is not currently being treated for an abnormality does not prove that the patient does not have an illness; therefore, clinical review of the patient must take place to ensure accurate diagnosis and treatment.
Conclusion
The use of blood testing is more than a simple medical procedure; it is an important and powerful way of obtaining information about your health. Blood tests can help identify illnesses you may not know you have, track your progress with chronic illnesses, find out if you have any vitamin or mineral deficiencies, and give you the information necessary to seek timely medical care.
By making the routine use of blood tests a routine part of your preventive health care, you are not only increasing your chances of leading a healthy life, but you are also preventing the development of severe complications from chronic diseases.
Sikund Diagnostic is the leader in comprehensive diagnostic pathology testing using cutting-edge laboratory technology and accurate reporting for accurate diagnosis and preventive health care. In addition to providing accurate results, additional benefits to you as a user of health screening are the ability to make informed decisions regarding your health, the opportunity to make lifestyle changes to improve your long-term health, and to control your long-term health.
