Medical Lab Tests

Wellness testing, or early disease testing, is a little more invasive than a basic physical exam, which includes checking vital signs like blood pressure, temperature and heartbeat. Like a physical exam, a wellness test is preemptive, meant to detect irregularities before they become symptomatic. A wellness test is a diagnostic risk assessment based on the results of the testing of bodily fluids. Numerous panels or profiles are created that show how the different systems are functioning and if there are any foreseeable problems that may be addressed currently.

A basic wellness test includes a metabolic panel, lipid panel and urinalysis. A metabolic panel checks red and white blood cells, glucose, calcium, CO2, chloride, nitrogen and creatine. A lipid panel checks cholesterol, HDL, LDL, and their ratio. The urinalysis will check blood sugar levels.

A more thorough wellness test would closely examine thyroid and coronary functioning, as well as electrolyte levels. A liver panel checks enzyme and protein levels in the blood. A thyroid panel analyzes the thyroid’s hormone production and dispersal.

A full-blown wellness test examines thyroid and coronary functioning even more carefully plus checks the level of iron, folic acid and Vitamin B12. Every function of the liver is checked including albumin serum, bilirubin, globulin, alanine aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase, urea nitrogen, uric acid and GGT (gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase).

A wellness test is recommended annually, even if you feel fine—especially if you feel fine. That’s the purpose. Just because you don’t have symptoms doesn’t mean you don’t have something happening that will someday rear its ugly head and bite you. Wellness testing can turn a deadly condition, like Hepatitis, into a manageable condition. A wellness test can detect diabetes before symptoms occur. Wellness testing can discover cancer so you can beat it sooner. In short, wellness testing guards your health by analyzing it for the chemical signs of future problems.

Regardless of your age, every adult should take the time to have a wellness test. Most insurance policies will cover it, since it’s cheaper to treat sooner rather than later. Plus, any alarming trends can usually be reversed by adjusting diet or habits. Why wonder? Put the ball in your court. Get the numbers, know your score.

Believe it or not, there are a large amount of diseases that can be prevented just by getting a simple wellness test. There are millions of people who forgo these important tests only to discover a life threatening illness that could have been found and prevented years or months before it happened.

Many people fear the results of the test, or just simply don’t want to be bothered with the cost or time to get one done. If you are looking for an alternative way to get a wellness test at a fraction of the cost your provider will charge you, you need to look at prepaying for your wellness test online and going directly to the lab.

You can literally save up to 60% on your test. Not only will you get piece of mind, you will also save some money on the test. Don’t let yourself become a victim of a disease that could have been treated well before it happened. You really need to ask yourself if it’s worth it to wait until something like this happens to you. Think about your family and friends and get a wellness test today.

Being obese or just overweight can be a factor into having a lot of medical problems. Besides the fact that being obese/overweight is uncomfortable, everyone who has excess weight is at risk for possible health problems, even if they are just 11 to 18 lbs over. Individuals that are obese/overweight run the risk to possibly have high cholesterol, coronary heart disease, type two diabetes, stoke, high blood pressure, and some types of cancer, such as colon, gall bladder, kidney, and post menstrual breast cancer. Often when people eat too many calories it will raise their blood cholesterol level, which in turn can cause heart disease. That is why keeping up with the level of your cholesterol is very important.

- People who are obese/overweight can run the risk of having high cholesterol and high triglyceride levels. HDL “good” cholesterol is connected with lower heart disease and the risk of a stroke.

-People who have high cholesterol run the risk of atherosclerosis, which is, the buildup of fatty substances, cholesterol, cellular waste products, calcium and other substances inside the inner lining of an artery. This is also known as plaque.

-Unstable plaque can cause a rupture. If there is a rupture, it will cause a blood clot that will block the flow of blood through the artery. If the plaque blocks the flow of blood to the heart, it will cause a heart attack. If the plaque blocks the flow of blood to the brain, it will cause a stroke. If there is a block of blood flow to the arms and legs, it will make it difficult to walk and can eventually cause gangrene.

-If the blood flow is blocked to the smaller arteries, it will cause them to expand which. Which will effect the blood pressure.

Childhood obesity has also become a fairly common problem. According to the Michigan University Health System, 2003-2004, there were 17.1% of children ages 2-9 who were obese. (This number calculates that over 12 and a half million of young people.) Of the adults, there were 32.2% of adults that were obese, showing a staggering number of over 66 million. 5% of those men and women were extremely obese. Children who are obese in their teenage years or younger, runs a greater risk of being an obese adult. This also stems into many, many health problems. Those risks include, high blood pressure, heart disease, gout, Type 2 diabetes, pulmonary problems, gall bladder disease, liver disease, psychosocial problems, reproductive problems and some types of cancer.

According to statistics provided by the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention) about 12,000 deaths are contributed to obesity/overweight in the US in each year.

Those who run the risk of being considered obese, whether an adult or child, needs to be under a doctors care. Monitoring for and watching for any of the possible health risks that obesity can cause is extremely important. You and your children as well as any of your other family’s future, depends upon it.