Blood Tests: An Introduction
Blood tests are vital for determining the overall well-being of an individual. They help medical experts assess your overall well-being, check for underlying medical conditions, and predict/diagnose and treat medical issues to make informed decisions.
In most cases, the blood test can be qualitative (stating present/absent) or quantitative (listing the values of a substance). These tests help you visualize the changes your body undergoes as you grow older and make decisions about your health accordingly.
You can undertake most of the blood test packages to determine if your organs, like the liver, thyroid, or kidney, are working efficiently and if any malfunctions are worth noticing. The test results act as a marker for diabetes, HIV, Anemia, Cancer, and Coronary heart disease.
They help you and the medical experts identify signs and symptoms of underlying illnesses, take necessary steps to prevent their progression into severe stages, and how your body responds to the treatment.
Before exploring the different blood tests, you can undertake in the upcoming segment, let’s understand a few other aspects w.r.t the blood test.
How Often Should You Get Your Blood Test Done?
Wondering about How Often You Must Have A Routine Body Checkup? Well, According to medical experts, you must get your blood test done every year.
However, if you’re experiencing any of the below-listed scenarios, the frequency of your getting tested might increase:
- Abnormalities in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) parameters can alter your diet plan and lifestyle.
- If you're experiencing abnormal weight gain/loss, fatigue, and other symptoms
- If your family has a long history of getting diagnosed with critical health conditions due to lifestyle habits
- If you want to minimize complications arising due to several diseases, symptoms of which the routine blood test can identify
Having understood the important aspects, let’s move on to the next segment to discuss the different blood tests your medical experts often recommend.
7 Important Blood Tests You Must Undertake at Regular Intervals
Here is the list of 10 essential blood tests you must undertake annually:
Complete Blood Test (CBC)
A Complete Blood Count Test (CBC), called Hemogram, is the most common blood test your medical experts recommend. This test helps the doctor measure the level of Red Blood Cells (RBCs), White Blood Cells (WBCs), platelets, Hemoglobin (a protein found in RBCs), and Hematocrit.
Though every laboratory follows a different range as a reference, the following table shows the typical CBC test result values:
In case your blood test lab report shows abnormal values, it could indicate:
- Cancer
- Nutritional deficiency in your body, like B6 or B12
- Deficiency of iron (Anemia)
- Allergies and infection
- Immune system disorders
Blood Sugar Test (HbA1c)
The Blood Sugar test is an important marker for understanding the presence of Type-1 and Type-2 diabetes in an individual. According to medical experts, if you're in the middle age group or elderly, this test should, by default, be included in your routine test examinations.
If you've high blood sugar, your pancreatic gland cannot produce insulin, or the body cells resist the hormone. The presence of diabetes in an individual often triggers different complications, like an elevated chance of heart disease, the healing time of wound increases, neuropathy (damage of nerves outside your brain and spinal cord), and others.
Health experts advise you to measure blood sugar levels before and after meals, during fasting, and even when you're pregnant. Here are the standard reference values for the Sugar test:
- Fasting Blood Sugar: Less than 100 mg/dL
- After-meal: Less than 180 mg/dL
- Random blood test: Less than 200 mg/dL
If your test result values are above the reference range, it indicates that you're either pre-diabetic or have diabetes. In some cases, your healthcare practitioner might recommend other tests, too, to confirm the diagnosis.
However, if your test value is below the reference range, there's still a possibility of you having low blood sugar. In this scenario, the doctor will recommend the necessary steps to mitigate the situation.
Doctors prescribe the BMP blood test to check the level of eight compounds in the blood, including Bicarbonate, Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN), Creatinine, Calcium, Glucose, Sodium, Potassium, and Chloride. Before undertaking the test, you must fast for at least 8 hours, which may vary depending on what the test measures.
If you're suffering from medical conditions like diabetes, hormone imbalance, or kidney problems, your BMP test values will most likely fall into the abnormal level. In such scenarios, the doctors may advise you to undergo additional tests for accurate diagnosis.
The below table lists the normal range for each test included in Basic Metabolic Panel:
As the name indicates, Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP) test is an advanced test that includes all BMP tests alongside measuring proteins w.r.t liver function. The list includes:
- Albumin
- Bilirubin - waste that results from RBCs breakdown and liver filters out
- Total Protein
- Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT)
- Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST)
- Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) – an enzyme present in the liver and bones and involved in several body functions
An abnormal value (high or low) in either of these markers can be indicative of several medical conditions, like:
According to the doctors, your immune system needs a perfect balance of all these important markers to ensure you stay healthy and fit.
Lipid Panel Test
The Lipid Panel Test helps medical experts determine the level of cholesterol and triglycerides (also called fats) in your blood. This test measures two variants of cholesterol:
- High-density Lipoprotein (HDL), also called “Good” cholesterol
- Low-density Lipoprotein (LDL), also called “Bad” cholesterol
Do you need clarification on the two variants and why they are so-called? Well, let us help. The High-density Lipoprotein (HDL) removes harmful toxins and other substances from your blood and helps the liver convert them to waste. The Low-density Lipoprotein (LDL), on the contrary, is named so because it blocks the arteries with an unwanted plaque that elevates your risk of getting a heart disease.
The standard reference range for each cholesterol variant is as shown below:
Since cholesterol levels vary by age, you must consult your doctor to understand how to control your cholesterol in the long run. However, as a start, you can make some changes in your diet plan and lifestyle to experience the changes gradually.
The thyroid is one of the vital glands of your body; present in the neck region, it regulates your mood, energy level, and overall metabolism. Medical experts recommend undertaking the Thyroid Panel test to identify if your thyroid is functioning well and how it reacts to certain hormones, including:
- Triiodothyronine (T3): It combines with the T4 hormone and controls your body temperature and heart rate
- Thyroxine (T4): Combining with the T3 hormone, it keeps a tab on your overall metabolism
- Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH): This hormone modulates the level of hormones that your thyroid gland releases.
The standard reference range for the hormones is:
- T3 hormone: 80 – 180 nanograms per deciliter (ng/dL)
- T4 hormone: 0.8 – 1.8 ng/dL
- TSH: 0.5 – 4 mIU/L (milli-international units per liter)
If your test report values fall in the higher range, it could indicate that you suffer from hypothyroidism (a medical condition when your thyroid doesn't produce enough hormones). On the contrary, low values indicate hyperthyroidism (when the thyroid gland produces excessive hormones).
If your values are abnormally high or low, your healthcare practitioner will recommend you undergo additional tests immediately to chalk out diagnostic and treatment steps accurately.
C-reactive Protein Test (CRP)
If your body starts experiencing symptoms of inflammation due to sudden injury, cardiac arrest, toxins, infection, or mental trauma, the liver produces a unique ring-shaped protein called C-reactive. The CRP test measures the level of CRP in your body and helps flag severe health conditions like coronary heart disease, diabetes, macular degeneration, etc.
By understanding the level of inflammation through the CRP test, the doctors can take necessary steps and devise a strategy inclusive of nutritional diet, exercise, etc., to eliminate the possibility of the underlying condition getting severe.
According to medical experts, the reference values of CRP blood test are:
- > 0.3 mg/dL: Normal range of CRP test results
- Between 0.3 to 1.0 mg/dL: Normal or minor elevation
- Between 1.0 to 10.0 mg/dL: Moderate elevation in the CRP levels
- More than 10.0 mg/dL: Experts mark it as the first level of elevation
- More than 50.0 mg/dL: Case of severe elevation
Note: The higher the value of your CRP level, the more your chance of encountering a cardiac attack.
Why Should You Book Your Blood Test at Home Through HealthcareOnTime?
HealthcareOnTime is a NABL/ICMR-certified diagnostic center with a PAN-India presence and trained staff of experienced professionals whose blood test price is quite affordable compared to other players in the market.
Offering state-of-the-art laboratories for testing to its customers, combined with the facility to undertake blood tests from home and deliver test reports within 48 hours, makes HealthcareOnTime a preferred choice for most customers across the country.
So, if you're looking for the best lab near you for blood tests, consult HealthcareOnTime experts today!
