It's in the Blood...

When beginning the journey toward health and healing, it's important to assess some of the body's main indicators of disease.

Blood work is a great first step, and it can often show us where to go next. For the purpose of health coaching, new blood draws aren't necessary. We can look at your most recent labs to get an idea of your unique profile.

Which labs will we use?

Anything you have available.

These are the most useful ones for our purposes:

CBC

Complete Blood Count

Also called a CBC with Diff

This looks assesses the number and type of cells in your blood, such as red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.

CMP

Complete Metabolic Panel

This test measures various electrolytes and substances in the blood, including glucose, potassium, sodium, proteins, and liver enzymes.

Lipid Panel

This examines the cholesterol and triglycerides in your blood.

Hemoglobin A1C

This test take a long-term view of your glucose level by assessing your red blood cells.

CRP (HSCRP)

C-Reactive Protein

This is an inflammatory marker. It's a protein made by the liver that increases when there's inflammation in the body. CRP shows inflammation quickly (within hours).

ESR

Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate

Also called a Sed Rate

This test can reveal inflammation in the body. The sed rate takes a bit longer (about 3 days) to show inflammation.

TFT

Thyroid Function Tests

These determine levels of TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), T4 (free thyroxine), and T3 (free triiodothyronine). It can tell us a lot about the health of your thyroid.

It's also nice to look at:

Troponin

Lipase

Iron

Vitamin D Levels

Vitamin B-12 Levels

Food Allergies/Sensitivities

Urinalysis

Any hormone panels

Any kind of culture

Any other blood tests that have been run