Focused on Blood Testing
Blood
testing allows you to get a picture of what's going on inside. The results and patterns in the signs and symptoms you experience give
pointers to disease processes, creating a picture that allow clinicians
to make diagnoses and know how best to help you back to health. Tests also provide evidence of improvement or deterioration at a given point in time. We
offer face to face blood tests which provide a print out of your
results in 5-20 minutes which is yours to take away. The following tests
are currently available. Discounts are offered on mulitple tests. Contact
us for details.
Diabetes UK recommend HbA1c tests should be repeated every 12 weeks,
giving the individual enough time to make measurable changes to their
lifestyle. This enables you to take action in your day-to-day life
before the need for medication.
If one of our hormone producing
systems is out of balance long term, this can put a strain on the other
systems in our metabolism leading to fatigue, pain, weight loss or gain
and inflammation. Sadly, we tend to experience these symptoms as we get
older and there can be many reasons why.
Ruling out 3 of the main
culprits, diabetes, cholesterol and inflammation is a great place to
start to ensure a healthier you going forward into your older years.
Individual blood tests available
Diabetes (HbA1c)
Diabetes traditionally was tested by a simple blood glucose (sugar)
reading via a pin prick test and showed the body’s ability to have sugar
under control. This was only correct at the time of the test and didn’t
indicate any history. The test was usually only carried out by know
diabetics who managed their diabetes with insulin or diet intervention.
The draw back with this test was that it could give a false indication
if done too soon after a meal and would need to be followed up by
fasting bloods.
Heamoglobin (Hb), is the oxygen carrying protein in the red blood cells.
When there is excess glucose, they become stuck to each other in such a
way that they can not be separated. This means that this test is able
to give you a longer-term picture of your body’s ability to process
sugar as these cells have a life of around 12 weeks.
Cholesterol - Lipid test
This measures the lipoprotein density in your blood. You may be more
familiar with the term Cholesterol test, this is it. There are 2 forms
of protein that transport ‘cholesterol’, good high-density lipoproteins
(HDL) and bad low-density lipoproteins (LDL). They should appear in
your blood at an approximate ratio of 1 good to 4 bad.
An imbalance of this ratio can increase your risk of heart (cardiovascular and coronary) disease. HDL is responsible for carrying cholesterol to the liver for excretion
by the adrenal glands and here is used to make cortisol a hormone
released in the fight and flight response. LDL induces inflammation and
the clumping of platelets in the vasculature of the body leading to
furring up of the pipework.
Inflammation - C-Reactive Protein test (CRP)
There are many inflammatory markers in our blood, and this is one.
Inflammation is a response to cellular damage and markers increase
relative to the level of damage. Damage can be caused by many processes
infection, autoimmune responses, trauma or injury and disease processes.
CRP is released in response to damage occurring in your body tissues. It
is used more and more as a sensitive marker for atherosclerotic
vascular disease (thickening of the lining of the blood vessels known as
arteries) which is an indicator of cardiovascular risk and poor heart
health.