A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding Blood Tests

Blood tests, a cornerstone of modern medicine, offer a window into our internal health landscape. These seemingly simple procedures provide invaluable insights, allowing doctors to assess our overall well-being, diagnose potential issues, and monitor existing conditions. Yet, the unfamiliar terminology and numerical results on the report can often leave us feeling bewildered. This guide aims to demystify the world of blood tests, empowering you to understand these crucial health assessments.

The Power of a Drop: What Blood Tests Reveal

Our blood is a complex blend of cells, proteins, and other components that work in harmony to maintain vital functions. Blood tests analyze these elements, offering a snapshot of various aspects of our health, including:

• Cell health: A Complete Blood Count (CBC) examines the number and types of red blood cells (carrying oxygen), white blood cells (fighting infection), and platelets (aiding blood clotting). Abnormalities in these counts can indicate anemia, infection, inflammation, or blood disorders.
• Chemical composition: A Blood Chemistry Panel, also known as a Basic Metabolic Panel (BMP) or Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP), measures various chemicals in the blood, such as electrolytes (regulating fluid balance), enzymes (indicating organ function), and glucose (blood sugar levels). Abnormal results can signal problems with the kidneys, liver, or diabetes.
• Cholesterol levels: A Lipid Profile evaluates the different types of cholesterol in the blood, including total cholesterol, LDL ("bad" cholesterol), HDL ("good" cholesterol), and triglycerides. High cholesterol levels are a significant risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.
• Hormone levels: Various tests measure specific hormones, such as thyroid hormones, sex hormones, and growth hormone. These assessments help diagnose and manage hormonal imbalances that can affect metabolism, growth, and development.
• Disease markers: Specific tests may be ordered to identify markers for certain diseases, such as HIV, hepatitis, or tumor markers for cancer screening.

Understanding Your Results: Navigating the Numbers Game

Blood test reports typically include a list of tests performed, their corresponding reference ranges (normal values), and your individual results. However, interpreting these values can be daunting. Remember, these results are just one piece of the puzzle, and their significance should always be discussed with your healthcare professional. They can:

• Explain the meaning of your results: Different factors, like age, sex, and medical history, can influence reference ranges. Your doctor can interpret your results in the context of your individual health.
• Identify any abnormal findings: While a single test result outside the reference range may not be cause for immediate concern, your doctor can determine if further investigation or monitoring is necessary.
• Discuss the implications: Your doctor can explain how your results might relate to your overall health and any existing conditions you may have.

Beyond the Numbers: Preparing for Your Blood Test

To ensure accurate and reliable results, certain steps are crucial before your blood test:

• Follow your doctor's instructions: This may involve fasting for a specific duration or avoiding certain medications beforehand.
• Inquire about potential side effects: While uncommon, some individuals may experience minor discomfort, such as dizziness or bruising, at the puncture site.
• Discuss your concerns: Don't hesitate to ask your doctor any questions you may have about the test, the process, or potential implications.

Knowledge is Power: Taking Charge of Your Health

Blood tests play a vital role in preventive and proactive healthcare. By understanding the purpose, significance, and interpretation of these assessments, you can become an active participant in your health journey. Remember, open communication with your doctor is key to utilizing blood test results effectively. With this knowledge, you can make informed decisions about your health and work collaboratively with your healthcare team to achieve optimal well-being.

Additional Tips:

• Maintain a record of your blood test results. This allows you and your doctor to track trends and monitor any changes over time.
• If you have any concerns about your blood test results, schedule a follow-up appointment with your doctor to discuss them in detail.
• Remember, blood tests are just one tool used in diagnosing and managing health conditions. They should always be considered alongside other factors such as your medical history, symptoms, and physical examination findings.

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Side Effects of HPV Vaccine

 

 

Most common side effects of the HPV vaccine

A good number of persons; 10% or more that have taken the Gardasil HPV vaccine may experience:

• Headaches that are usually not permanent
• Swelling, pain, or redness on the area injected. This is the most common side effect of the HPV Vaccine, but it disappears in a matter of days

Common side effects

Between 1% to 9% of persons injected with the Gardasil HPV vaccine notice:

• Nausea
• Pain in parts of the body like hands, legs, arms, feet, toes, or fingers
• Itching or bruising on the area injected
• High body temperature, or hotness and shivering

Contact our doctors to know more about the common side effects of the HPV vaccine.

Rare side effects

0.09% of persons injected with the Gardasil HPV vaccine notice:

• Hives (an itchy red rash)

A very rare side effect


Less than 0.01% of persons injected with the Gardasil HPV vaccine may experience:

• Breathing difficulty and blocking of the airways

Other side effects

Dizziness or fainting may be the experience of certain people after getting the Gardasil HPV vaccine. This is why, when administering this vaccine to children in schools, they are asked to lie or sit down to take the injection and relax for another 15 minutes after vaccination. This is to lower the risk of them fainting or hurting themselves from falling due to dizziness.

Should you be experiencing any other symptoms, discuss with the person who vaccinated you, or see your doctor, nurse, or pharmacist.

Reporting side effects

Any side effects you might be experiencing that is linked to the HPV vaccine can be reported using the Yellow Card Scheme. This scheme is run by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency.

Allergic reactions

An anaphylactic reaction is a very severe allergic reaction some persons may develop just after taking the HPV vaccine, but it rarely happens.

People who have this reaction are well taken care of by the healthcare provider administering the vaccine as they are professionally trained to manage it. Patients can recover fully within a few hours after being treated. If you would like to discuss side effects of HPV vaccine, contact our team of doctors now for more information.

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5 Things to Know Before Choosing a Travel Clinic in London

People likes to travel overseas without thinking much about their health issues during the trip. Consulting a travel health specialist is of having a sound trip. Your specialist will advice you the things that you need to carry and stay healthy all over the trip. There are a number of travel clinics in London city but everyone is different from one another. Choose the one which is highly endorsed. Below are the five questions that you need to clarify before consulting with health specialist about travel clinic in London.

Quality care - While selecting a travel health clinic, all you need to find a clinic that aims at proper healthcare. The specialist who will listen to your problems, will check for your current health status and will also check for your past records. You never should be criticized for unknown facts about travel medicine. The clinic must focusing at your proper health and even taking it as priority.

Industry Expertise - Select a clinic that have specialists who are enough experienced and have broad knowledge about travel medicine and can provide you precautionary care. Mainly, the clinic you are choosing must only focus on your travel health and travel medicine and helps you to complete your destination in a healthy manner.

Clinic that is a State-Certified for Yellow Fever Vaccine - If you are travelling abroad and searching for a travel health clinic then you must also search for the one that can provide you vaccine for yellow fever or have registration for yellow fever vaccination, as this registry is mentored by the centre of Disease Control and also by state health. They ensure the quality and the safety of vaccine.

Getting all the vaccines -  Always a better travel health clinic will provide you with a routine of vaccination like tetanus or diphtheria, HPV, mumps, polio, rubella, hepatitis A and B, measles and shingles. The specialists must be enough qualified of giving the vaccinations to fight against yellow fever, typhoid, anthrax, rabies and Japanese encephalitis. They should also able to treat for malaria and antibiotics for diarrhea.

Clinic near me - Visit the specialist before four weeks you are starting your trip to boost up yourself. It will also help you out to complete your trip safely as you are starting after completing all your vaccinations. A schedule must be followed for completing the series of vaccination. If you get your travel health clinic near you then it is an add-on. It will help you to complete the vaccination schedule. It will also ease you.

Finding more options - After finding a travel clinic in London with all good qualities, just go through their details and call them for fixing an appointment. And after your visit to the appointment try to justify by yourself. Ask your mind about the following questions:

• Did your travel health specialist have given you chance to question them?
• Did your specialist listen to you?
• Did your specialist was comfortable to answer you?
• Did you understand your travel health?
• Did your specialist spend his time on you?

If you are satisfied with the answers of above questions and if it provide you with certified yellow vaccination and all other vaccines then you have chosen a proper clinic before travelling abroad.

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How to Get Increased Chances of Babymaking

Are you facing difficulty in conceiving? Well, then you should immediately make approach to the best infertility treatment clinic at your place. There are many people who think that having a great sex-life will lead to outstanding fertility but this is not always true. Fertility has nothing to do with sexual-interaction directly.

Your fertility-expert will definitely make you understand this difference clearly. Sexual-activities should be directed in correct directions and then only you can receive successful pregnancy. In fact, your fertility-expert will tell you the best time for lovemaking that can bring pregnancy. The couples need to take a healthy preparation from the very beginning in this regard.

Best tips for increasing pregnancy chances:

• Lower focus over ovulation : Developing conception-energy during ovulation-days is much more important than focusing over ovulation-days only. You should understand that conception receptivity begins only with this energy and thus it is so much essential. Couples just keep sexual-energy stored for ovulation-days only and the rest of the time they remain submerged in their hectic tasks. Both conception and attraction chemistry needs to be developed together for increasing the chances of pregnancy.

• Seduction is the prior thing : Taking seduction as the prior thing can lead to the enhancement of sexual-energy as a result of which natural conceiving ability can be boosted-up to a great extent. Your bonding sense can be now increased with balanced HPG which automatically stimulates love-hormone. Both testosterone and oestrogens can be stimulated effectively so that peak-of-sexuality can be reached easily.

• Cuddling effect : Baby making focus should not hamper lovemaking act. Childbirth is nothing but a symbol of love between couples and if the warmth of the love is not felt properly then the chances of conceiving will also get fade away automatically. Your love and care can be shown by simple cuddling steps.

• Charging of sexual-batteries : You should be equipped with enough of sexual-energies all the time in order to accelerate the process of baby making. Unwanted tension and stress of daily-life might make your deprived from these energies and thus you should look for the best ways that can fight intensely against these mental issues. You can visit any renowned infertility assessment center in order to get rid of different mental-issues creating obstacles in lovemaking.

• Empty-stomach lovemaking : You should take your meals on proper time in order to employ the energies on potential lovemaking rather than on digestion. Your sexual-hormones will work perfectly in case you have got a very good digestion-system. Digestive-issues might deprive you from making satisfactory lovemaking on bed.

• Afterplay and foreplay : Wet-mucous provides the best titling time. This invites good orgasm as a result of which sperm can make its place into cervix. Wet-mucous can be brought only by means of effective foreplay and After play.

• Periods are nothing but pleasure-time : The couples should not get bothered with periods rather they will only concentrate on their lovemaking act. Both luteinizing and stimulating hormones usually control period-cycle every month. These hormones will function well if you stay focused on sexual-activity.

Infertility treatment appears to be optimal, and experts consistently advise patients to consider the strategies outlined above. For further information, please visit a private gynaecologist in London at Medical Express Clinic.

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Different Kinds of Mental Illness to be treated by an Experienced Doctor

Mental disorder can affect a person's feeling, mood or thinking and such conditions may have an effect on someone's ability to function properly each day. Each person will have different experience and even the ones who perform the same diagnosis. This kind of illness can make you feel absolutely miserable and lead to several problems in your life. In most cases, such symptoms can be managed by talking to a psychiatrist who will give certain medications when you go to a walk in clinic in London.

• Anxiety disorders – People who suffer from anxiety disorders may respond to certain situations or objects with anxiety and fear, as well as with physical signs of panic that include sweating and rapid heartbeat. An anxiety disorder is usually diagnosed if the people does not response properly in that situation, if the people do not have any control for the response or if anxiety seems with interfere with normal functioning. Some anxiety disorders are – generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, panic disorder and specific phobias.

• Mood disorders – Also known as affective disorders, these have constant feeling of sadness or feeling excessively happy or sudden fluctuations from tremendous happiness to acute sadness. Common mood disorders include –  depression,  cyclothymic disorder and bipolar disorder.

• Psychotic disorders – These include thinking and distorted awareness. Two most common symptoms of psychotic disorders are hallucinations in which the experience of sounds or images are not real like hearing voices and delusions that are false yet fixed beliefs that ill person will accept to be true. An example of this kind of disorder is schizophrenia.

• Eating disorders – Eating disorders consist of attitudes, extreme emotions, and behaviors that include food and weight . Some common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa, binge and bulimia nervosa.

• Addiction disorders and impulse control – People who suffer from impulse control disorders are not able to resist urges or impulses, perform acts that may be harmful to themselves or others. They should see a doctor immediately at the best walk in clinic in London and discuss about their mental disorders. Examples of this type of disorder are – kleptomania (stealing), pyromania (starting fires), and compulsive gambling. Often people get so much involved with this disorder that they seem to ignore their relationships and responsibilities.

• Personality disorders – People with such disorders have inflexible and extreme personality traits that are quite stressful or may cause problems in workplace or social relationships. Other than this, the behavior and thinking pattern of individuals might differ significantly from the expectations of society and might be extremely rigid to interfere with normal functioning of the person. Some examples are – antisocial personality disorder, paranoid personality disorder and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder.

• Obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD) – People who have OCD are usually plagued by fears or constant thoughts that may cause them to perform some rituals or routines. These disturbing thoughts are known as obsessions and rituals are called compulsions. An example is a person who has awkward fear of germs who washes his/her hands constantly.

• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) – PTSD is said to be a condition that may develop due to traumatic or terrifying event that include – physical or sexual assault, natural disaster or sudden death of your loved one. People who have PTSD often have terrifying and lasting memories and thoughts of the specific event and they tend to be emotionally numb.

You can visit a private walk-in clinic in London and consult with experienced doctors who can help you overcome mental disorders, enabling you to lead a peaceful life.

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The Various Tips to Avoiding Miscarriage or Spontaneous Abortion in Early Pregnancy

When it is the initial days of pregnancy, one must be more careful. Many women have this question of how to avoid miscarriage in the early pregnancy phase. Know this thing that certain miscarriages are beyond control, while most miscarriages are quite natural. But, you should always take certain precautions to avoid the risk of miscarriage. In the first three months of pregnancy, the risk is always high. Miscarriage can take place due to various reasons, and at times it is difficult to avoid it. Medical Express Clinic consultant gynecologist Mr. Hikmat Naoum gives some helpful advice that you can go through from here.

• Know if you are fit to conceive

It is important for both father and mother to undergo health checkup to find if they are fit for having a baby. If any partner is weak or sick, it will lead to miscarriage or else the baby will be unhealthy.

• Smoking and use of alcohol are injurious

Consuming alcohol is extremely bad for the health. For an expecting mother, smoking and alcohol can cause serious problem to the fetus.

• Manage your medical condition

If you have any medical condition like thyroid, diabetes or hypertension, they must be brought under control. Plan for a baby only after you are healthy.

• Use vitamin supplements

Much before conceiving, you must start consuming folic acid supplement. This must be done 3 months prior to conception as there can be a lack of nutrients in the early stage.

• Maintain your diet

Diet is very important when you are conceiving. It is vital for the growth of the baby. Private gynecologists in London can bring you in touch with the best dieticians to prepare the diet chart. The chart must be followed very strictly. Vitamins and minerals must be adequately taken. This will be good for the health of the baby and the mother. Eat a lot of fruits and vegetable. However, do not eat anything without consulting with your gynecologist. Do not intake tea or coffee and other items rich in caffeine.

• Regular medical checkup is must

You should regularly visit your doctor whenever summoned. Do not miss the appointment under any situation. Complete all your check ups and tests and do everything as per the doctor’s advice and prescription. If there has been a miscarriage in the past due to hormonal imbalance or any infection, you should consult with your doctor.

• Other important factors to consider

Do not take any stress when you are conceiving. Stress is the chief cause of miscarriages. You must never overexert when you are pregnant. Do not do anything without the gynecologist’s advice. Most of the times, problems in pregnancy occur after the age of 35 years. More precaution is needed in that case.

Being pregnant is the happiest phase of life. You must do everything what it takes to have a healthy baby. A woman needs to take utmost care for the entire 9 months. Consider gynecologist private practice in London for suitable advices on conception.

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What are the Probable Signs and Symptoms that your Child Needs an Allergy Test

Spring, the allergy season, is here. It can make anyone who is allergic to pollen more miserable. When it comes to allergies, they are hereditary and may be passed on from the parents to the child. If the child has inherited allergies, it is time to schedule allergy testing for the child. If you ignore the signs of allergies, it may cause severe problems at a later stage.

Some of the common allergies among kids

Some of the common types of allergies among kids are asthma, food allergy, skin breakouts, hay fever. If your child shows any of the mentioned symptoms, it is time to schedule an appointment with the dermatologist. Skin specialist will be able to detect the signs of skin allergy, identify the triggers and help one avoid it. If the person abstains from the allergy trigger, much of the problem can be resolved. The diet which caused the allergy must be avoided completely. The finest way to find what caused the allergy is scheduling an allergy test. As soon as possible, take the child to test for allergies.

What is the skin prick test?

There are mainly two ways to detect allergies: either through a blood test or a skin prick test. A blood test may help identify certain types of allergic triggers, but it is primarily used to detect any underlying medical conditions. The skin prick test is a suitable method for finding allergy triggers. In this test, the child is exposed to samples of allergy triggers. Common triggers can help identify the causes of allergic reactions.

During the skin prick test, the child lies on their stomach, exposing their back. Allergy trigger samples are then placed on the back while the skin specialist presses them against the skin. If any of the sample components cause an allergy, it will be detected within 15 minutes of skin contact. Each sheet is laid out in a grid pattern, and each allergen is clearly identified within the grid. If the skin shows no signs of allergy, it means that none of the elements in the sample cause an allergic reaction.

Symptoms of allergies

If you notice any of the allergy signs on the skin, it is time to schedule an appointment with the dermatologist. The skin expert will treat the signs while also safeguard from developing any new sign. Some of the signs of allergy are coughing, frequently sneezing, irritation in the eyes. All such signs indicate rhinitis. If red patches or irritated skin appears on any of the area, the test must be performed immediately. There are many people who are allergic to ivy or oak.

Signs of insect bites and allergy to food substances 

Food allergies or insect bites show in the form of eczema and hives on the skin. Hives show in the form of red welts onto the skin. If there is severe allergy, the child may start to vomit.

Allergy testing must be taken so that allergy symptoms are treated with proper medications. Private allergy testing for child must be performed in a reliable clinic. Children mainly suffer from ear infection which may cause hearing loss if not managed properly.


Many thanks to Professor Sam Lingam, who is Executive Medical Director Consultant at Medical Express Clinic and who put together this great guide for us.

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