Blood is an essential part of how our body works, and it snakes its way through our circulatory system providing nourishment, electrolytes, hormones, vitamins, antibodies, oxygen, and heat wherever it's needed. It is made in our bone marrow and is composed of plasma, red and white blood cells, and platelets. In addition to all of its other functions, it also helps us fight off infection, heal wounds faster, and protect against mutated cells that cause cancer.
Blood is also an important way to monitor our health when we see the doctor in the form of blood testing, or blood work. We can learn a lot about our current health and risk of other illnesses with this form of screening, so to explore its benefits, let’s examine how these tests work, how it helps, and the common types of tests you’re likely to get.
Residents of the Little River, South Carolina area looking for blood work or other screenings for diagnosing conditions can find help with Dr. Rogers Walker and his skilled medical team at Walker Urgent & Family Care.
You’ve no doubt been to a medical appointment where you’ve had blood drawn, with the familiar syringe in the arm, hand going into a vial. Once the vial is filled (in some cases multiple bottles depending on the number of screenings they’re doing), it goes to a laboratory where it’s examined under a microscope or tested with other chemicals to test for various issues.
Different things are measured in blood tests as they relate to their function, but often hemoglobin, calcium, cholesterol levels, and blood glucose are checked, as well as white and red blood cells. When you see the results some days after the blood is drawn, these are common things to look for as your doctor determines what the levels mean to our health.
Here are the benefits of routine blood tests
Blood work is useful in monitoring your health both when you're taking your annual physical and when you aren’t feeling well. Having your blood screened can be helpful in determining any underlying illnesses and getting treatment.
Blood work doesn’t take long to do, and you often get results in just a few days. This means being able to get a solid diagnosis and treatment options quickly or confirming if there’s nothing wrong in a short time.
Blood does a lot of things for us, and a lot of different enzymes, chemicals, and hormones pass through it. Because your circulatory system runs through most every part of your body, your blood can be used to test for a wide variety of illnesses.
Seeing changes in your blood work that increase the risks of specific conditions means being able to jump on it before it becomes a problem.
Confirming a diagnosis through blood work can also get you started on a regimen to treat the condition, while also using blood tests to confirm if the treatment is working.
Here are the blood tests you’re likely to get to check for diseases:
Blood tests are a vital way to help you stay healthy, and if you need blood work done, you can make an appointment with Dr. Walker and Walker Urgent & Family Care today.
