Full blood count determines general health status. It is used as a screen for a variety of disorders, such as anaemia and infection, inflammation, nutritional status and exposure to toxic substances.
Zinc plays ubiquitous biological roles. It interacts with a wide range of organic ligands and has roles in the metabolism of RNA and DNA, signal transduction, and gene expression. It also regulates cell death. Symptoms of mild zinc deficiency are diverse.Clinical outcomes include depressed growth, diarrhea, impotence and delayed sexual maturation, alopecia, eye and skin lesions, impaired appetite, altered cognition, impaired host defence properties, defects in carbohydrate utilization, and reproductive teratogenesis. Mild zinc deficiency depresses immunity, although excessive zinc does also.
Testosterone is used to help diagnose erectile dysfunction, infertility, early or delayed puberty, and other disorders.
Blood glucose levels are also known as blood sugar. Test is required if there are symptoms suggesting hyperglycaemia (high blood glucose) or hypoglycaemia, or if you are diabetic. Also requested during pregnancy.
To aid diagnosis and monitor a person’s diabetes and to help treatment decisions.
PSA is a protein produced mainly by cells in the prostate gland and can be a useful indicator of prostate cancer. This protein can be found in all males. Elevated levels do not always indicate cancer. Men whose levels are increased may have an infection of the prostate gland (prostatitis) or prostate enlargement. In blood, PSA is present both as free PSA and as complexed PSA bound to other blood proteins.
TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone, thyrotropin) blood test which screens for and diagnoses thyroid disorders; monitors treatment of hypothyroidism/hyperthyroidism.
T3 and T4 are hormones produced by the thyroid gland. The thyroid gland is found in the neck, in front of the windpipe. T3 makes up less than 10% of what we call thyroid hormone, while T4 makes up the rest. T3, however, is about four times as strong as T4, and is thought to cause most, if not all, the effects of thyroid hormones.
Thyroid hormones help regulate the body’s metabolism (how the body functions) and are also related to fertility.
Thyroxine is one of two major hormones produced by the thyroid gland (the other is called triiodothyronine T3). Within the blood, most thyroid hormones are attached to a protein, but it is the hormones that are free from these proteins that are able to affect body functions. This is why we measure the 'free' thyroxine in your blood sample.
ECG test records the electrical activity of the heart over a period of time using electrodes placed on the skin. These electrodes detect the tiny electrical changes on the skin that arise from the heart muscle's electrophysiologic pattern of depolarizing during each heartbeat. It is a very commonly performed cardiology test. ECGs are used to diagnose suspected myocardial infarction (heart attack), suspected pulmonary embolism, a third heart sound, fourth heart sound, a cardiac murmur or other findings to suggest structural heart disease and many more other conditions of the heart.
Blood pressure is the pressure exerted by circulating blood upon the walls of blood vessels. When used without further specification, "blood pressure" usually refers to the arterial pressure in the systemic circulation. Blood pressure is usually expressed in terms of the systolic (maximum) pressure over diastolic (minimum) pressure. Blood pressure that is low due to a disease state is called hypotension, and pressure that is consistently high is hypertension. Both have many causes which can range from mild to severe. Long term hypertension is a risk factor for many diseases, including heart disease, stroke and kidney failure. Long term hypertension is more common than long term hypotension in Western countries. Long term hypertension often goes undetected because of infrequent monitoring and the absence of symptoms.
Total cholesterol and its sub groups HDL, LDL and Triglycerides (TG) are used in evaluating heart disease risk.
These tests are useful in the assessment of healthy individuals as well as in patients who have heart disease or have other risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure or diabetes. They are also used to monitor treatment with lipid lowering drugs.
The test for high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) is also used as part of a lipid profile to screen for unhealthy levels of lipids and to determine an individual's risk of developing heart disease. HDL-C is considered to be beneficial, the so-called "good" cholesterol, because it removes excess cholesterol from tissues and carries it to the liver for disposal. As part of a lipid profile, HDL-C may also be used to monitor the effectiveness of treatment for unhealthy lipid levels.
LDL-C is usually calculated from the results of the other components of the lipid profile, including total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol (HDL-C), and triglycerides. In most cases, the formula provides a good estimate of the LDL-C, but it becomes less accurate with increased triglyceride levels (i.e., above 400 mg/dL). Of all the forms of cholesterol in the blood, the LDL-C is considered the most important form in determining risk of heart disease. It is considered to be undesirable and is often call "bad" cholesterol because it deposits excess cholesterol in blood vessel walls and contributes to hardening of the arteries and heart disease.
Total cholesterol and its sub groups HDL, LDL and Triglycerides (TG) are used in evaluating heart disease risk.
These tests are useful in the assessment of healthy individuals as well as in patients who have heart disease or have other risk factors such as smoking, high blood pressure or diabetes. They are also used to monitor treatment with lipid lowering drugs.