EMC Ideas

Four Important Medical Tests That You Might Not Know About

For the most part, we all like to think that we are in perfect health. There is nothing wrong with us. We are as strong as oxen. Unfortunately this is not always the case. Cancer, heart disease, diabetes, strokes, and even the resurgence of tuberculosis are just some of the silent killers that can sneak up on an unsuspecting person. With EMC Ideas medical technology being such that it is, there are a variety of tests that can be performed to help a person understand just how healthy – or sick they really are.

There are four important medical tests that most people do not even realize exist until they are required to have it done to help diagnose a potential health issue. Here we will take a look at what these for tests are and what they have been designed to find during the test.

High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (HS-CRP)
C-Reactive Protein – CRP for short – is a found in the blood and is used as ‘markers’ as an indicator of inflammation in the body. The more CRP found, the more inflamed the body is. Inflammation is a response to fever, injury and infection, and doctors now believe that is can initiate and help further progress cardiovascular disease. Elevated levels of HS-CRP increase the risk of having a heart attack, stork, restenosis, and peripheral vascular disease. The test looks for these ‘markers’ in an effort to help your doctor evaluate your risk of these conditions. The test is a simple blood test that can be performed at anytime and fasting is not required.

Audiogram
Many people are unaware that they may have hearing loss and an audiogram is the test that tells doctors just how well a person can or cannot hear. The results of the test are displayed on an X and Y graph with the softest sound a person can hear being located at the top of the graph. The audiogram is conducted by having the patient listen to a variety of sounds at different pitches and decibels and responding to each one they hear by clicking a button, raising the hand on the side they hear the sound, or by some other indicative measure. Their results are then recorded on the graph and tell your doctor whether or not you have hearing loss.

Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a disease of the eyes that everyone should be tested for as the loss of eyesight due to the disease is gradual over time. By testing early for glaucoma, many patients can be treated for it before the eyesight is damaged to the point of blindness. Most eye care professionals include a glaucoma test in their yearly exams for patients. Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the world and should not be overlooked during an EMC Ideas routine eye examination.

Vitamin B-12
Having a vitamin B-12 deficiency can cause your body to stop producing blood cells and maintaining your nervous system. This is one of the many tests doctors perform on diabetics to discover the cause of tingling in the limbs that is not due to peripheral neuropathy. It is also used to diagnose megaloblastic anemia. B-12 is naturally found in foods such as meat, milk, cheese, eggs, and shellfish and most people who eat these products usually do not have a deficiency problem unless their body does absorb the vitamin into the blood stream. The test is a simple blood test and patients should not eat or drink anything other than water for 10 to 12 hours prior to having blood drawn.