As information about preventive medicine spreads an increasing number of otherwise healthy patients are visiting general practitioner offices looking for tests that could help to evaluate their current health status. This concern has been exploited by the health industry to advertise all sorts of high-end tests providing out-of-context results with little to no clinical evidence at all.
Recent surveys conducted in the united states show that about 70 percent of physicians say they prescribe unnecessary tests at least once a week, Physicians are talking with patients about this issue when it arises, and many patients follow the advice to not perform the tests deemed unnecessary. Despite conversations, many physicians are likely to order an unnecessary test or procedure when presented with an insistent patient.
Then, What tests are helpful?
Every country could follow different protocols in order to evaluate a healthy adult, also the criteria for choosing or not a test may be influenced by the healthcare system, and local epidemiology, nevertheless, some tests are usually recommended for all adults irrespective of personal history, or exogenous factors.
We are providing a list of tests that every adult should get at least once.
Complete blood count
This test provides information about red and withes cells as well as other parameters like platelets. Is helpful to evaluate for infections or inflammatory processes, and mostly is used in the acute setting, but is included in the panel of healthy adults in case it has not been performed recently.
Lipid Panel
This panel includes evaluation for cholesterol (total, LDL, HDL) and triglycerides. With this information, we can tell the balance among the most critical lipids components in the body, as well as evaluate the risk for cardiovascular diseases.
Creatinine Levels
Creatinine is a product of the metabolism that is eliminated by the kidneys. Its elimination is produced at a steady pace, so we use this as an indicator of kidney function. Given the expected decline in kidney function that comes with aging is recommended to perform this test with some regularity after the age of forty.
BUN
This is an acronym that stands for Blood Urea Nitrogen this is also a metabolic product eliminated by kidneys, so it´s a complementary test to evaluate kidney function
STD´s panel
Sexually transmitted diseases may come in a wide spectrum of forms, anyway, a comprehensive panel would include testing for chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, and VIH. It´s crucial to have an evaluation with a healthcare provider first, as the laboratory techniques to diagnose every disease may be different, and choosing the right technic for every case would reduce the chance of false negatives.
Glucose levels
Given the high prevalence of diabetes across the world population an evaluation of the glucose levels is recommended for all adults, even if they are otherwise asymptomatic or with no familiar history of diabetes. Multiple laboratory techniques could be used to evaluate this, so an evaluation by a primary care doctor is advisable.
Additional laboratory tests could be recommended, depending on the patient’s personal and familiar history, so ideally the best way to know what tests are suitable for preventive evaluation is during your yearly physical. Providing past tests could be really useful for your doctor, so if you have a former laboratory test that you consider relevant do not hesitate to provide this during your evaluation.