Common Blood Tests to Order for New Patients
Did you know that 95% of the world’s population suffers from at least one health condition? Many people have health conditions without realizing it. This is why common blood tests are important.
If you have a new patient, it is important to order certain blood tests. This will help you better understand what kind of state your patient’s health is in. But what kind of blood testing should you do on a new patient?
Which tests will give you the most information? Keep reading and learn more about the most common blood tests to order for new patients.
Complete Blood Count (CBC)
A complete blood count is one of the first options that a doctor will order for new patients.
This is a very important test as it covers a variety of factors. If you already know that your patient has a specific condition, this test can tell you more about it.
It can also give a clear picture of a patient’s health if they don’t have a preexisting condition. This test consists of a red and white blood cell count. The balance between these two types of blood cells is very important.
If the patient has low red blood cell levels, this may mean that the patient is anemic. This could make the patient feel fatigued or unwell. This is because red blood cells are important for distributing oxygen to tissues throughout the body.
An abnormal white blood cell level indicates inflammation or infection in the body. It may sometimes be a sign of cancer. A CBC also includes the platelet count, a hematocrit test, and a hemoglobin test.
The Details
Platelets are important for blood clotting. Low levels of platelets mean that the blood can’t clot properly. High levels mean that the blood clots too much which could be dangerous.
Measuring the amount of hemoglobin in your blood is very important too. Some disorders may affect a patient’s hemoglobin levels. Low levels are often associated with anemia.
A hematocrit test is important for making sure that a patient has proportional red blood cell levels. If this test comes back with abnormal results, it may be a sign of dehydration or a serious condition. It can sometimes be linked to bone marrow disorders.
The CBC also measures the mean corpuscular volume. This ensures that the patient’s red blood cells are the right size. If they are an abnormal size, this may mean that the patient has a blood disorder.
Basic Metabolic Panel (BMP)
The BMP is another important blood test that most doctors do for new patients. This is one of the fundamental tests for basic patient care. This test gives you a better idea of the patient’s overall health.
It does not measure the blood itself but rather the chemicals and hormones found in the blood. It also measures the presence of minerals, vitamins, and other components in the blood. Any abnormalities in this test may indicate that the patient is suffering from a disease.
This test makes it easy for doctors to understand the function of the patient’s organs. This includes the heart, internal organs, bones, and muscles. The patient must avoid food several hours before the test.
This ensures that food and other nutrients won’t get in the way of the results. The BMP involves an enzyme marker test. Several different enzyme marker tests may be done at once.
This creates a more well-rounded and complete profile of the patient’s health. Enzymes are important for the function of a person’s heart. If the enzyme levels are abnormal, this may mean that the patient has suffered tissue damage to the heart.
This is common after a heart attack. The BMP also includes a lipoprotein panel. This measures a patient’s triglyceride and cholesterol levels.
HDL is good cholesterol while LDL is bad cholesterol. LDL levels should ideally be low while HDL levels should be high. But this is not always the case in many patients.
High levels of bad cholesterol are often associated with heart problems. This is also true of triglycerides. Triglycerides are fat.
What You Need to Know
High levels of this fat are not good for the cardiovascular system. It may lead to coronary artery disease. This can lead to severe health problems like heart disease, heart attacks, strokes, and so on.
Fasting is necessary to get the correct results of this test. Be sure to advise your patient to fast for around 12 hours before going in for the test. This means the patient should not eat or drink anything except water beforehand.
This ensures that nothing gets in the way of the patient’s true blood levels. A pregnancy test is sometimes done with the BMP test. This measures the woman’s human chorionic gonadotropin.
But measuring this hormone may also be useful for diagnosing ovarian cancer. BMP tests also include ammonia tests. Ammonia can be dangerous if it builds up in the body.
It may lead to neurological issues as well as fatigue and other problems. A CO2 test is also done in this panel. Abnormal CO2 levels are associated with kidney and metabolic problems.
All about Common Blood Tests
There are many common blood tests that a new patient can benefit from. A complete blood count will give you a better idea of a patient’s general health. A BMP can give you more details and provide information about the patient’s metabolism.
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