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Many blood tests can be taken at any time of the day, but certain tests like FBS and lipid profile will require you to fast. If you’re unsure whether fasting is necessary, ask your doctor prior to your lab appointment.

Aside from blood tests, a well-equipped diagnostic lab may also offer radiology exams such as x-rays, CT scans and even MRIs. Such tests allow them to cater to a wide array of patients and in essence become a one stop shop for all their diagnostic needs.

One of the more important blood tests we should undertake regularly would be a lipid profile test. Such a test will tell you if your cholesterol and other lipid levels are too high thus enabling you to do something about it before you become a candidate for heart disease or a stroke.

The diagnostic laboratory is a hub of trained medical professionals behind a variety of medical tests and procedures. Using advanced techniques and skills in instrumentation, these experts can analyze samples like body fluids, blood, stool, and urine.

One of the tools that a diagnostic lab makes use of is a clinical centrifuge. When used for spinning blood samples at high speed, the action separates the blood cells from the plasma due to high centrifugal forces generated.

Aside from blood, clinical laboratories also examine other specimens taken from patients. Stool samples, in particular, provides a wealth of information as examination can reveal the presence of parasites, bacteria or viruses that could be making a patient ill.

Hypercalcemia is a condition that refers to high levels of calcium in the blood, and is usually a result of an overactive parathyroid gland. If the condition is not treated with medications, surgical removal of the gland may be necessary.

For fevers that run for more than a few days and are yet to be explained, a doctor may order blood work in order to shed more light on the condition of the patient. Such tests can reveal for instance, a low platelet count which may be indicative of dengue fever.

Did you know the first commercial handheld ultrasound scanner was used in the U.S. in 1963? One of the smallest ultrasound transducers can actually be placed into blood vessels to visualize the walls and diseases of those vessels.

If your blood work shows that you have clotting issues, your doctor may put a planned surgery on hold. Proceeding without addressing this problem first will constitute unacceptable risk as you may end up bleeding excessively during the procedure.

An oral glucose tolerance test is a test used to detect diabetes, usually ordered for pregnant women. In the test, the patient’s blood sugar is measured before and after drinking a concentrated glucose drink.

If your blood needs to be drawn but you’re afraid of needles, be sure to talk to your phlebotomist about your concerns. While it’s their job to puncture skin on a daily basis, they really don’t want to hurt their patients.

For a patient having chest pain, routine tests ordered include electrocardiogram and blood tests for troponin. Elevated troponin levels usually indicate damage to the heart muscles and may signal that the patient is at risk for heart attack.

If your doctor suspects that you have a bleeding abnormality, he or she may ask that you get a prothrombin time (PT) test which measures how long it takes for your blood to clot. An abnormal PT result will allow the doctor to decide on the best thing to do to treat or manage the condition.

When doing a urinalysis, the technician begins with a visual assessment of the sample provided. He or she will evaluate the clarity (or cloudiness) of the sample and will note color discrepancies (i.e. blood in the urine) and will also note the odor of the specimen.

There’s no limit to the number and kinds of body fluids that get processed in a diagnostic lab. It’s not just blood, sweat, and urine samples that get examined; technicians also analyze enzymes, proteins, fungi, and bacteria.

Aside from checking your blood sugar, lab techs can also do other things with the blood that you provide. Cholesterol levels for instance, can be determined from blood samples along with the presence of any current infections.

If your doctor suspects a thyroid condition, he or she will order a series of thyroid function tests to determine (or rule out) the presence of the disease. These exams, which are composed of T3, T3RU, T4, and TSH tests, will require the patient to provide an adequate amount of blood.

The red blood cell component of blood transports oxygen to the different systems of the body, so a deficiency can spell serious trouble for the patient. As such, a diagnostic blood test will be needed as soon as possible to confirm illness in a patient that presents with symptoms.

CBC or complete blood count is one of the most common types of blood tests physicians require of patients. A person’s CBC test results are used in detecting infection, loss of blood, anemia, and a person’s response to cancer treatment.

While getting your blood drawn isn't something you would do for fun, it is something you have to put up with when you go to a diagnostic lab. In fact, you should be ready to part with more than just a thimble full as the techs will need an adequate amount especially if a lot of tests need to be done.

To get a correct assessment of your blood sugar levels, a diagnostic lab will require you to fast for eight to ten hours before the procedure. Doing so gives your body time to eliminate any nutrients present in your blood, thus ensuring that an accurate baseline is established.

There are many types of samples used in drug testing, with urine being the most frequently used sample type. After urine, saliva is the second most commonly used. In some cases, hair and blood samples are also used.