An Insight about Various Blood Tests and Its Uses

In this article let us briefly look into some blood tests types and understand why one needs to perform these tests.

C3Blood Test

• If you frequently get sick or easily catch cold or fever from others then your immune system needs to be blamed. That is a weaker immune system does not kill seasonal viruses and bacteria, instead makes you sick.
• Thus, by performing these complement C3 blood test, your doctor can quickly detect any autoimmune disorder which helps to start the treatment plan accordingly. 
• Also, patients who have joint stiffness or pain or frequently feeling fatigue in spite of taking adequate rests or any kind of facial swelling especially around the eyes may also get this C3 blood tests done which also diagnoses lupus disorder.

SGOT Blood Test

• People who have liver problems like hepatitis C, or damage in other parts of the body like muscles, heart, kidneys or brain got damaged then it may make the SGOT level either higher or lower than the normal range. In these cases, your doctor may recommend you take this SGOT blood test.
• It is a simple procedure where blood is drawn from the veins of your arm, however if you are taking any medications like Over the counter medicine, it should be avoided 2 days prior to the test or according to your doctor’s recommendation. .

e2 Blood Test 

• Estradiol test basically measures the amount of estrogen present in the blood. This is popularly known as e2 test which is responsible for development of the female reproductive organs. Also, it is essential for women’s heathy bones and joints.
• Typically, this e2 test is recommended by your doctor if you have abnormal vaginal bleeding or infertility or painful menstrual or any abnormality in the monthly periods. This will also determine if a woman is entering a menopause period where the Estradiol level may be low.
• If you have urge to frequent urination or any pain in the pelvic area or any bloated feeling in your abdomen area then it is time to get a consultation with your doctor where your Estradiol level may be abnormal than the normal range. 

Tests for Food Intolerance

Food allergy is commonly seen in many kids and adults in today’s lifestyle and fast-food culture. There are few foods which are known for causing allergies for generations. The most intolerance food groups are peanuts, milk, egg, seafood and some types of fruits like kiwi, papaya and so on. Though most of the food allergies react quickly which is shown externally through rashes on the faces or hands, they must be detected in a genuine professional way. This can be done through a thorough, simple food allergy blood test. These tests provide accurate, current values of the patient’s allergy level for each food group and compare the values with the normal range and provide the information to the patient if they are highly allergic or within the normal range for each food group. This test report comes in handy for the patient which provides as a reference data of which food to avoid and what are the foods that are safe to consume.

Blood Test

There are several ways to detect allergy in a person like a skin prick test, a trial elimination diet, and oral food challenge and allergy blood test.

• The presence of the blood’s immunoglobulin E or IgE level is measured with regards to the specific food categories.
• This immunoglobulin is the antibody which helps to activate the food allergy symptoms if present. Previously, these tests were called as RAST’s which radioallergosorbent tests is because they also used radioactivity to detect allergies but nowadays it is not used anymore.
• Blood tests give an accurate result, and it can be performed with patients who are having skin rashes or other skin diseases.
• These will not affect the blood tests results, unlike the skin prick tests.
• These food allergy tests are performed in a lab by a skilled technician. If you are allergic to any food group, it will show you a positive result, or it will show you a negative result.

However, apart from these lab tests, it is a good idea to keep a food journal of all the foods which cause you any reaction whether it is a mild rash or bloated feeling or severe pain or wheezing problem. This helps the patients to eradicate certain food groups and consume only safer food groups.

Blood Tests to Detect Kidney Stones

Kidney stones are the crystal mineral deposits in the form of stone that is present in the urinary tract or within the kidney. However, these causes severe sharp pain in most of the cases which are caused by a decrease in the amount of the urine or some stone-forming elements in the urine. But in addition to these, there are various risk factors associated with this stone formation like heredity, persons who have gout, or certain medications and supplements are also a factor.

Early Detection Test

To detect and treat the kidney stones without undergoing any surgeries, Kidney blood test can be ordered by your doctor when he suspects you may have any stone formation. Like if you have any complaints like severe pain which wake you up from a deep sleep, blood in urine you can talk to your doctor about your concerns.

Kidney Function Test

It consists of a series of tests to determine if you have any abnormal functioning of your kidney. Kidney Function Blood Test included Serum creatinine test, blood urea nitrogen and estimated GFR tests. All these tests check for the optimal range for healthy kidney function, anything higher or lower than these levels further lead to other kidney stone test that may be recommended by your doctor.

• The normal range of GFR, which determines how good your kidney is filtering the waste substance from the body, it should be anywhere lower than 60 ml/minute/1.73m2.
• The BUN level must be between 7 and 20 mg/dL.
• The creatinine level should be lower than 1.2 mg/dL for women and 1.4 mg/dL for men.

Treatment 

If the kidney stones are detected early with the help of these blood samples as well as urine samples, then your doctor puts you on medications for a few months. Usually, most of the patients who are detected at the initial stage will not undergo any surgical treatments because of the negligible size of the stone which can be quickly dissolved by some of the advanced medications. 

However, you may require performing these kidney stone tests in a regular interval for a certain period to make sure it does not reoccur.

All You Need to Know About Hepatitis

 Hepatitis, a viral infection occurs due to various factors. There are three types of Hepatitis, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C. However, there are specific tests to detect which type of hepatitis has occurred to your body by conducting a blood test for hepatitis, physical exam and in some cases imaging scans like CT scan as well. Also, vaccines are recommended for the prevention of these Hepatitis virus formations which is given in doses. Getting vaccinated is the best solution to prevent future infections.

HAV –Causes and Risk Factors

• This type of hepatitis causes the liver inflammation due to a virus. Hepatitis A virus spreads to someone who accidentally consumes the contaminated food or water. 
• It gets contaminated from the stool of a person who got the virus. 
• For example, eating fruits or vegetables which was contaminated during handling of these items or consumed raw shellfish from contaminated water leads to this disease. 
• There are some risk factors for spreading this disease like having physical relation with a person who already has this virus infection or traveling to a country where there is a recent outbreak of this disease.

HAB – Causes and Tests

• It is the deadliest type of hepatitis which if left untreated lead to be fatal. It also spreads from the person who got hepatitis B virus through their body fluids, blood or open sores. 
• It makes the organ to scar and subject to liver failure and sometimes advance to liver cancer.
• Other risk factors include having unprotected sex who is infected by this virus or sharing the needle or syringe from the infected person leads to virus formation.
• Your body immune system fights back these viruses, and your doctor may order a hepatitis blood test to check if these viruses are destroyed and whether your body recovered from this virus infection.

HAC – Causes and Risk Factors

• This type of hepatitis also causes liver inflammation and is deadly if not treated. There are many types of hepatitis of which type 1 is most commonly seen.
• It spreads through shared drugs, STD’s; during delivery, an infected mother can spread to the infant or unhygienic medical equipment which are used for dialysis treatment.
• However, there are certain precautions to be undertaken to prevent from getting these Hepatitis C virus like choosing a well-researched hygienic tattoo and piercing parlor, not sharing personal grooming items like manicure kits, razors, nail clippers and practicing protected physical relations.

HIV Aids Diagnostic Tests and Symptoms

Before cancer became the threat that it is today, HIV was the most dreaded disease of all times and still is. Today, it is no doubt that there has been an increase in lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and cancer, and that has somehow sidelined the fact that HIV is still a killer disease as well. Most people are not taking the necessary precautions to counter HIV infections. An infected person may not even be aware that they are carrying the virus, until they start showing some obvious symptoms that will make them go for a test only to find out that they have been carrying the virus for a certain period of time. Others may be very much aware that they have contracted the virus, but opt to live in denial for various reasons such as stigmatization or regret. 

Whatever reason could be preventing anyone from taking a HIV test; it remains as the only sure way of knowing if you have an infection or not. It is also the only way to ensure that unaware people are not becoming victims of the virus.  That is why it is always advisable to mind about your health and that of others and take a HIV Test regularly especially for the people who are sexually active and drug users who inject drugs by sharing needles and syringes. Other causes leading to the HIV infection could be mother to child during birth, blood transfusion, and sharing personal items such as needles and razorblades. 

HIV Blood Test

Some people are good at insinuating about what other people could be suffering from. In most cases, HIV instances are the most common because the symptoms tend to be loud. However, an HIV test is the only option that can accurately reveal whether someone is infected with the virus or not. There are various HIV tests with different window period (time between HIV infection and HIV detection). These are three main types of HIV tests;

• Antibody test: This test checks for HIV antibodies (disease fighting proteins which respond to HIV infection) in blood and other body fluids such as mouth fluids. The window period for this test is mostly between 3 to 12 weeks from the time of HIV infection.
• Combination(antibody and antigen) tests:In this HIV Blood test, both HIV antibodies and antigens are detected within a window period that runs from 2 to 6 weeks from the day of infection. 
• Nucleic acid tests: This test detects HIV infection in blood for about a period of 7 to 28 days after infection. 

As far as HIV testing is concerned, it is important that there are also rapid HIV tests that produce results almost instantly. For those fearing or not courageous enough to go for HIV testing, there are also home tests kits for that purpose. 

HIV Symptoms

HIV symptoms show depending on the infection stage.

• First Stage: During this stage, not many are even aware that they have contracted the infection. That is why most symptoms in this stage are easily confused with other common diseases symptoms. These symptoms include;

1. Headache
2. Fatigue
3. Nausea and vomiting
4. Sore throat
5. Diarrhea
6. Red rashes
7. Aching joints and muscles

• Second Stage: In this stage, the symptoms of the first stage are gone and people can easily infect others with the virus since there are no notable symptoms to show that someone is sick. The immune system is destroyed slowly therefore making the body more vulnerable to other illnesses. 
• Third Stage: This is the advanced stage of HIV infection whereby the immune system is at its weakest moments. The following are the symptoms that are associated with this stage

1. Sweating profusely especially at night
2. Endless fatigue
3. Weight loss
4. Severe diarrhea
5. Bleeding
6. Continuous Fever
7. Spotty skin
8. Yeast infections in the mouth or around the vagina
9. Swollen nodes in the neck region or the groin
10. Running out of breath

Last but not least, an HIV Test is the only way to counter HIV virus extremeness. Early diagnosis and treatment can guarantee someone a long and health life.

Trusted Results for Liver Tests to Weed out Problems

Today, with the number of risks to our body increasing steadily, one requires a quality assurance when the various functionality of our body is tested. The tests that we endure are just the first step. The test results have the potential to change the entire course of our life. One cannot endure any mistakes in these tests. One should go to a trusted and reputable diagnostic laboratory to find out what is actually happening in the face of uncertainty.

Many diagnostic laboratories in India have now spread its roots globally. The state of the art equipment makes sure that there is no margin left for errors. A large number of centres across the country makes it convenient for all kinds of tests for the people who are unable to travel.

Liver function blood tests are a series of tests which measure the state of a person’s liver. The tests mainly measure the functionality and integrity of the liver. The Liver blood tests can help to diagnose the following: 

• Liver diseases – There are different types of liver diseases some of which are hereditary. The liver function blood test can help to identify the presence of the different types of these diseases in the early stages itself when there are no symptoms. Detection of the liver diseases in the early stage means that there is a very good possibility of cure and control.
• Liver disorders – A simple liver blood test can help to identify different types of liver disorders. Many people where there are chances of inheriting liver disorders get the liver function blood test done periodically to manage the onset of liver disorders. 
• Liver damage – The liver blood tests help to measure the amount of liver damage induced which is very important with the treatment plan.

The liver function blood test is a standard liver panel which measure the following:

• Total bilirubin
• Gamma glutamyl transpeptidase 
• AST/ALT ratio
• Aspartate transaminase
• Albumin
• Alkaline phosphatase
• Alanine transaminase

The liver blood tests which measure the above mentioned parameters help in identifying the various liver disorders.  Other than this standard liver panel, when doctors require specialized measure of other parameters of the liver, these are required to eliminate specific liver diseases. Some of them are

• Nucleotidase
• Lactate dehyogenase
• Serum glucose
• Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP)
• Coagulation test
• Ceruloplasmin

To catch the live disorders as early as possible is very important. Some of the symptoms that one should not ignore in case of liver disorders are

• Pale stools – Pale stools happen when a particular element stercobilin is not present in the stool. It is derived from bilirubin is very important for the functionality of the liver.
• Dark urine  - The colour change of urine happens when bilirubin gets mixed with urine
• Jaundice – This is a very common disease where bilirubin gets deposited in skin and the patient experiences severe itching. 
• Itching - Itching which is dismissed by many is one of the most common complaint with people who have to deal with various levels of liver failure. It normally goes away with medicines.
• Swelling – swelling in various parts such as the ankles, abdomen and feet can occur when albumin is not produced by liver.  
• Fatigue - Excessive fatigue can occur when the liver functionality decreases since there is a general loss of Vitamins, nutrients and minerals.
• Bruising – Easy bleeding and bruising are another strong indication of some problem in liver. The liver makes a substance which helps in preventing bleeding. 
• Pain in the upper right quant can also be an indication of liver diseases. 

During such times, a trusted liver blood test can help in the correct liver treatment. 

Kidney Function Test: What You Need to Know

Kidney plays a huge role in keeping patients’ overall health condition. Yet, the most critical role of kidney is filtering different waste materials coming from the blood and release it out of the body through urine. The kidney is also responsible for controlling the level of water and other minerals in the human’s body.

They are also needed in the production of:

• Red blood cells
• Vitamin D
• Hormones that control blood pressure

In the event that your doctor notices abnormality on how your kidney functions, he or she will order kidney function test. The simple urine and blood testing can pinpoint problems in your kidney. This may also be required if the patient has other conditions affecting his or her kidneys, like escalating blood pressure and diabetes.

There are different symptoms, when a doctor may order kidney blood test or function test. And these are:

• There is a blood in patient’s urine
• Fluctuating blood pressure
• Frequent need to urinate
• Difficulty starting urination
• There is a pain when urinating
• There is a swelling on either hands or feet or both because of fluid build-up in a patient’s body

If a patient experiences just one of the above, it might not automatically means the case is serious. But, when problem is persistent and simultaneous, it can be a sign that kidney is not functioning right. And this is where blood test for kidney function and kidney function test comes to play.

Types of tests

To test the function of the kidney, Urinalysis, Serum Creatinine Test and Blood Urine Nitrogen or BUN may be ordered.

Urinalysis

This will screen whether there is blood and protein in the patient’s urine. Although, not all the time presence of protein in urine means kidney problem as there are other reasons why this may occur.

Serum creatinine test

This type of kidney blood test checks whether there is creatinine building up in the patient’s blood The kidney should filter completely the creatinine from the human’s blood, hence when creatinine is high, kidney problem is possible.

BUN (Blood Urine Nitrogen)

This blood test measures the consistency of nitrogen to the human’s blood. Although not all increased BUN test result means kidney damage, as large intakes of aspirin and other antibiotics can contribute to its elevation. It is necessary that the patient tells his or her doctor about the medication he or she is taking to filter results.

Normal level should be between seven and twenty mg/dL. Higher result may suggest different health issues.

Consulting a professional doctor is necessary to ensure proper diagnosis will be done to your kidney. If diagnosis is done wrongfully, you will have no chance of treating the kidney issue properly.