Tuesday fitness fun fact
For us WLSers, getting labs done every 6 months (annually if > 2 years post-WLS) is critically important due to the malabsorption issues. In simple terms, labs tell you how you're doin' with the old vitamin and nutritional eating program. Not to be overly dramatic but if you don't take your vitamins and eat healthy, you be headin' down a path of, at best, poor health or worse case, death.
Here's a quick summary of what labs are used for. I've also got a good summary of what each individual lab test tells you as well as a spreadsheet (if you're really anal like me) for tracking your lab results over time. PM me if you'd like a copy of either document.
The importance of your blood chemistry tests (LABS)
You and your doctor can learn a great deal about your health by testing a sample of your blood. Blood tests can help…
• Provide basic information about your health
• Determine what is "normal" for you, that is, establish a baseline that can be used for comparison with future test results
• Detect a medical condition before you have any symptoms
• Confirm that a medical condition exists
• Identify the cause of your symptoms
• Find out if your medicine is working
• Rule out a disease
Your test results are usually reported along with a reference range of expected or desired values to help guide your doctor in interpreting them.
Reference ranges reflect the numeric values found in healthy people; however, a small number of healthy people (5%) have values that are higher or lower than the ones shown in the reference range. Thus, values higher or lower than those in the reference range might or might not indicate a medical condition.
In addition to the reference range, your doctor will consider other factors when interpreting your test results. These factors include your personal and family medical history, results from a physical exam, and other test results.
Your doctor will also think about things that might cause an incorrect test result such as improper sample collection or handling or improper patient preparation. Therefore, it’s important that you talk with your doctor about the meaning of your test results.
Quest Diagnostics
