Blood work and advanced medical testing can catch issues before they become a problem. Salus Integrative Wellness advises key labs that may be beneficial to you. Most people who have gone to see their PCP in the past have been told, “All your blood tests look normal. Keep on doing what you’re doing.” You might have heard this despite your physical and/or emotional complaints. Unfortunately, all too often our medical system does not put enough value toward the avoidance of disease and only use screening. Screening is only one small portion of chronic disease prevention. Unfortunately, many physicians and practitioners are not incentivized to talk with their patients about lifestyle habits or ordering more extensive labs which could catch underlying dysfunction early enough to prevent full-blown illness.
Typical cholesterol panels only give some of, but not the whole story. Even though your cholesterol may be ‘normal’, there is a lot more to protecting yourself from cardiovascular risk. The standard lipid panel does not include inflammation, oxidative damage, vascular endothelial health, lipid particle make-up, size and number of particles. Other metabolic markers are necessary to make sure you are not developing insulin resistance, the beginning of pre-diabetes and diabetes, which are independent risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Insulin resistance begins many years before ‘diabetes’ is diagnosed and is much easier to remedy early in the process. Make sure you are getting the tests you need to feel confident you are doing everything possible to avoid these common chronic conditions.
Listed below is simply a sampling of some select biomarkers that may be considered to determine any probability that you may be at risk for Cardiometabolic diseases.
- Inflammatory Markers;
- hsCRP
- Lp-PLA2
- OxLDL
- Myeloperoxidase
- Standard Lipid Panel
- Lipoprotein Fractionation
- Apolipoproteins and ratios
- Metabolic Markers
- Fasting Insulin
- Adiponectin, Leptin
- HbA1C
- Homocysteine
- TMAO
- Cystatin C
- GGT
- FFA
Getting tests done isn’t what’s most important to your health. The importance lies in the interpretation and advice that you get from your doctor and how that translates into actual changes in your life that will affect your health. Dr. Mainier is interested in your having optimal levels in every value she checks in order to optimize your body.
