knowing own TEST values to stay healthy :)

ines871
ines871 Posts: 1,283 ✭✭✭✭✭

Hi everyone,

Having worked in many health Care fields for 40 years, often people will get some symptom(s), & know that the MD's, & others want to test, next diagnose, & then medicate/manage the symptoms, until you are dead. --- Most people have been taught to believe that is all they can do. - But in fact, in most states you can do your own TESTS & then to make Nutrition & Lifestyle & Environment changes... with your goal of staying healthy.

Health is real wealth, and without it we have nothing. These tests are inexpensive and priceless. You must know the state of your health. You can do home blood spot testing for blood sugar & HbA1c, & T3, & T4.

You can use online labs like walkinlab.com or healthlabs.com without a doctor for any other tests.

(The standard blood multi-panel test is mostly useless, but looks good on the surface.)

Important LABS are: RE Homocysteine- Normal is 8, or under.

If you suspect a CHD condition, see a cardiologist and get an EKG, stress test, echocardiograph or other tests. CHD is the largest killer by far.

RE High sensitivity CRP : C-reactive protein (CRP) is a protein made by the liver. Measures 0.3 to 10 mg/L. of CRP in the blood and for seemingly healthy people to assess their potential risk for heart problems.

The regular CRP test is for those at risk for infections or chronic inflammatory diseases in the range from 8 to 1000 mg/L (or 0.8 to 100 mg/dL).


Kidneys can be tested with the usual standard blood tests for urea and creatinine, as well as chlorine, potassium and sodium levels.

RE Uric acid Normal values for women are 2.5 to 6 (mg/dL) and for men 4.0 to 8.5 mg/dL. Be at bottom of range.


LIVER

RE ALT/SGPT- liver disease is epidemic and this is one of the two liver tests.

RE AST/SGOT- this is the second liver test.


SUGAR

RE Blood sugar- use an inexpensive home Tru® meter. Look for a level of 85 or less.

RE Insulin- a very overlooked test. You want a blood result of about plasma 4 to 5.

Americans run about 8-9 on the average. Do this in the morning fasting with an online lab.

RE HbA1c- can be done with a drug store blood spot test. The magic number is 4.6 as it equates to a blood sugar level of 85 (not the medically accepted level of 5.6. A level of 6.5 means you have outright diabetes.)

RE Glucose tolerance (GTT)- only necessary if you have high blood sugar and/or high HbA1c. Look for a level at least 10 points below the medically accepted one.


FATS

RE "Cholesterol- the ideal here is about 150. THE most important indicator of heart and artery health.

HDL and LDL are optional.

RE Triglycerides- the ideal here is under 100. Second most important indicator of heart and artery health.


HORMONES:

RE Testosterone- for both men and women. Free, not bound or total. You want youthful levels, not the normal levels older people have.

RE DHEA- for both men and women. Again, you want youthful levels.

RE Estradiol- both men and women need to do this. Men and post-meno women want low range. 0.5 on ZRT.

RE Estrone- both men and women need to do this. Men and post-meno women want low range. 1.3 on ZRT.

RE Pregnenolone- anyone over 50 should do this. You must find a lab that will do a blood test, as saliva tests don’t exist. Overall, you can just take it if you're over 40.

RE Estriol- this is for women only. You want high range, not low.

RE Progesterone- this is for women only. You can only do this with a blood test, and not a saliva test.

RE T3- must be midrange, not "in range". Add high and low range and divide by 2.

RE T4- must be midrange, not "in range". Add high and low range and divide by 2.

RE TSH- Only diet and lifestyle will raise or lower it.

RE Melatonin- must be tested at about 3:00 AM. If you can find a saliva melatonin test you can do this. Otherwise don’t bother. Anyone over 50 should need melatonin.


RE Colonoscopy- everyone over 50 should get a colonoscopy. You must see an MD to have this procedure done.


Diagnostics is cheap, important, effective & necessary... when your goal is staying healthy/Youthful.

Comments

  • Grammyprepper
    Grammyprepper Posts: 168 ✭✭✭

    "

    You can use online labs like walkinlab.com or healthlabs.com without a doctor for any other tests."

    I appreciate the sharing of those resources. IDK if insurance will cover them or not. And don't know of the reliability of their results either.

    I agree that many of the mentioned tests can be important. But interpretation and treatment without the guidance of a medical professional is not recommended IMHO.

    One that I would add is Vitamin D levels. if you live in northern climates, we are notoriously deficient in Vitamin D.

  • merlin44
    merlin44 Posts: 426 ✭✭✭✭
    edited September 2019

    I left nursing after 15 years on the floor and avoid doctors like a plague. Except for trauma, I have no faith in allopathic medicine. We must take responsibility for our own health and live accordingly. These tests may prove helpful if one has health problems/fears but remember the term "within normal limits" changes with this or that new "discovery". @rainbow is so very correct with the statement "MD's,& others want to test, diagnose, & then medicate/manage the symptoms, until you are dead". And the monetary aspects of modern medicine and pharmaceutical products should not be ignored, what happens if a cure is a weed that grows in a "patient's" backyard?

  • ines871
    ines871 Posts: 1,283 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Hi @Grammyprepper - You are of course Right. - And tho I somewhat tried to word it as such, I should have just come right out & said " These Tests, or the fact of having them done are just & only a good Recommendation & suggestion." - The general public might want to ask his or her medical Practitioner: be it a traditional allopathic MD, or a Naturopath, or much better a Functional Medical doctor about actually ORDERing these Tests, as most of the time then Insurance will cover their $cost$. -

    With the exception of the colonoscopy which can run anywhere from $200 to $4000 & more depending on age, & how many times they do it, & what the doctor decides... needs to be an even more complicated procedure(s); - the rest of those above test are cheap, & necessary... when your goal is staying healthy. - When anybody objects, saying "I DONT have $$ for any of those tests, so I am NOT going to bother", get this: these TESTS are a heck of a lot cheaper... than waiting until you need Treatment(s), or an out-patient operation, or an even 2-4 day Hospital-stay, or for that matter, the Undertaker. Think about that.

    Intentionally I did not get into the additional subject of "cost" specifically, because my Intent was to just focus people on how IMPORTANT it is to know... their general state of health. Most people have zero clue, AND until you TEST you will Not have a clue.

    Lacking any clinical & definitive clue(s), it is not a good idea to then say: "Try this FOOD, or PLANT, or HERB, etc.". All such recommendations & suggestions are based on yet more GUESSes... Which ironically is exactly what MD's do when they write a prescription for any ABO (antibiotic(s), withOUT first doing a "C+S (culture & sensitivity) test". That is criminal. Why? - Because it is a well-known fact that Antibiotics KILL indiscriminately, iow they act without concern on the entire Immune system. -- So here you have a person with some sort of challenge, but without doing ANY kind of Needed tests, they are Ordered to take a Pharmaceutical known to kill... - and most in the General public never blink an eye, as like good little children they promptly march to the pharmacy & after "Finishing every last dose", then they wonder WHY am I still having problems ?? - Um, HALLO ! And it gets worse, as often (as was just posted yesterday in this thread https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/842257/i-remember-when-i-used-to-breathe-it-was-nice#latest ) people will go back to the same, or a different MD and get repeated... course(s) of Antibiotics, all the while completely destroying their Immune system, while creating Super-bugs; & then wonder: How in heck did I get colon cancer?? - Um, HALLO !

    Also, Intentionally I did not mention ANY mineral & vitamin Tests. --- Specifically what most people call "vitamin D". Um, technically 1,25(OH)2D (discovered in 1920, iow just about 100 years ago) is NOT a vitamin. Factually, by definition it is one of another essential HORMONE https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1240026/ so yes, I could have mentioned it under the other Hormones in that section; - Why did I not? - Because the general public does not know biochemistry, & it would just confuse them. - And also the O.P. was already long; - and just these Critical tests I mentioned in the 1st. post are a good Start...

    And further Intentionally I mostly said "on the bottom of the range" for the tests; - instead of giving a certain number, because as you too said, Different Philosophies in both Labs, etc. will use different values, depending also on what equipment & Testing procedure they use. - The exception I made was for the SUGAR section. - Why? - Because if a persons WAITS until their results are testing higher, they are sure to be told "Now you are diabetic", so that they can treat you like one. That too is criminal. - Please, PLEASE stay below what most organizations say, to Avoid serious deterioration. Do yourself this favor. Please.

    And last, Intentionally I did NOT mention " interpretation & treatment ", because obviously the general public does Not know ... how to Interpret, let alone Correct... most of those values. - But you know, especially those folks who were not "trained" to work in medicine, they are often at an Advantage... to LEARN how to so do, & quite correctly. --- But that is yet also a more complex area.

    My motivation for starting this Topic was out of an 'Abundance of caution', & an authentic/Sincere desire to help :

    1. I CARE immensely that the general public is Not further harmed, and
    2. that people CARE enough... about their own health, that they will act Preventatively by 1st. being TESTED. And
    3. that people realize that whatever FOOD, or PLANT, or HERB may have worked for them, does not automatically translate to another human, even in the same family, even with "Identical twins" for that matter. Each of us is unique. Therefore each of us has different needs. And the place to Start knowing our physical needs is with being TESTED.

    Does my second post make my Intent & Focus clearer ?

  • Grammyprepper
    Grammyprepper Posts: 168 ✭✭✭

    This 'community' is a little different, so I think your information should be well received.

    But keep in mind that even as 'open' as this community is, a) we are preaching to the choir b) most ppl don't have the time or interest or the money to get so involved in their own care, they still want the 'quick fix'.

    Please don't take me wrong, my dear friend. You have shared valuable information. I hope it opens some eyes.

  • ines871
    ines871 Posts: 1,283 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited October 2019

    Hi @Grammyprepper - Never have taken you wrong, my friend. You are simply another!! well-meaning precious soul whose only intent is to help... Thank you so much.

    Yet re " a) we are preaching to the choir b) most ppl don't have the time or interest or the money to get so involved in their own care, they still want the 'quick fix'. " <- Um, in that case we are Not preaching to the choir.

    The CHOIR, as it were, would be Testing... their indicator/values, consistently, because such people Know that a Snapshot as a Baseline of how we are functioning at least physically... upon which to build... even better health is really VITAL so we can stay in Top condition. - (Not as an athlete, necessarily), but in fact EACH of us.

    And re "the quick fix" - the Quickest Healthiest 'Fix' is *PREVENTION*. - but How many in this/our community here alone, draw their Water from a deep Mineral-rich well ?, plus &/or grow 100%? ALL the foods each person eats, organically. How about 3/4 ?, half ?, 1/3 ?, 10% ?, a few Herb pots on the patio? or just thinking about our whole "food grown, on every table" lifestyle ? - do you know how many 'organic gardeners' still get "Metabolic syndrome" &/or die of cancer ?

    Our body was Intelligently Designed to HEAL... why? - (because God does Not have time to babysit each of us, when because of our ignorance something goes askew). So in His infinite wisdom we were INbuilt with countless failSafe mechanisms, as you & @merlin44 too know. - But with all the moment-to-moment environmental attacks, coupled with our own sabotage, these failSafe mechanisms can, & in fact do FAIL... Then what? - in the case of cancering... (which actually is not some horrible Alien's doing), hence "fighting" it, is not the answer either. - But how many here in our "open"-community are aware of all these matters ?

    Turns out that quite a bit of Preventive education is absolutely Vital, starting with knowing,,, our Baseline values...

    Okay your turn again 🙂

  • ines871
    ines871 Posts: 1,283 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited October 2019

    re "age", it used to be that the vast majority of vaginally-birthed Newborns started out Healthy, & baring accidents stayed healthy & therefore OFF any pharmaceuticals. But the problem with that m.o. was that doctors had to keep searching... for new patients to treat. Bummer! What to do?

    There must be some way to snare/trap a human, get them sick, then sicker by increasingly Addicting them to doctors, until their bitter end. Hm, how to do that? - Soo here we are merely 110 years later, & before a baby is even born, his or her mom has been bamboozled into this, that, or the other vaccine, they dare call "public health safety". And of course if 10 vaccines into a child are good, then 100 vaccines+boosters must be even better, right? - C'mon, anybody can figger this out, yes? Apparently Not.

    By the time most children are now adults, they're taking, if not dependent... on at least 1 if not more drugs... and by extension with each decade yet more drugs get added, such that at age 60+, if not sooner, the poor person is 'poly-phamasized' . oh how excellent, for the chemical companies & of course the doctors, their legal representatives. --- Without its well-compensated drug-cartel, & pushers could America even survive? -

    Well, Research has proven that as the poisons & doctors get scarcer, the death-rate goes down, & Immunity goes Up, & most LIFE grows healthier... Funny thing, why do you think that is? - oh, how about because people decide to Grow own food, & herbs, & as well benefit from Food-supplements... Imagine not having to do so many of the above Lab-tests anymore, because "metabolic syndrome" & other crap could also fade into history. What honest-engine fun to stay young, & die in your sleep, still healthy...

    to be continued Stay tuned :)

  • maimover
    maimover Posts: 359 ✭✭✭

    Dealing with some health issues of my own I have to agree with you 100%. After taking a medication for almost 2 years (nothing better, feeling worse), I asked the doctor at a recent visit what this medicine is doing for me. He said, you don’t like taking the medicine?. I replied I just want to know what it’s doing for me. If you don’t think it’s helping you, you can just stop taking it. WHAT!?!?!! I really don’t think he knew what the drug was supposed to do; it’s just what pharmaceutical drug he was taught to prescribe for a particular condition. Oh by the way, that particular Med can cause blindness; really?!?! So glad to get the “OK” from him to stop. It’s disgraceful what our medical care has turned into, and at least every other commercial is for a pharmaceutical drug; “ask you doctor about-(fill in the blank)”.

    Again I am ever so thankful to be a part of a “healing” community ...

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Being the health conscious, interfering family member, I have started looking up the details on medications being prescribed for family members. It is frightening information: anti-psychotics for old people, poisons for diabetics and rheumatoid arthritis sufferers, etc.

    I am being scared healthy! I am also facing old age with ferocity -- I just witnessed a friend disappear and be found again in a rest home in a distant town. She had trusted a friend to be a health trustee. No previous evidence of dementia, we believe she was drugged and "rescued" by the friend and put in the home. Her cell phone and bank cards have disappeared with the friend. Her animal rescue was dismantled. No family members were notified. She is currently on heavy mind drugs as are all elderly residents of the facility. After 5 months, friends are still struggling to get her free. Sorry for the digression, feel that this lesson needs to be shared.

  • Grammyprepper
    Grammyprepper Posts: 168 ✭✭✭

    Wow @shllnzl that is a scary story...unfortunately, I don't think it is 'rare' with folks who don't have close family/friends with a good knowledge base, or who have ulterior motives. It is a sad statement on society today.

  • merlin44
    merlin44 Posts: 426 ✭✭✭✭

    @shllnzl How horrible but in a society that assumes old age is synonymous with uselessness it's a reality.

  • ines871
    ines871 Posts: 1,283 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @shllnzl - Um, we can't have this TEST-discussion completely obliterated, or derailed. - Maybe most would prefer Not to think about this topic, let alone get her or himself tested. -- But it is a discussion well WORTH having.

    Thus, as you raised the Alarming issues of the elderly and then 'too often alone' dilemma, - that certainly none of us wants to ever fall prey to, let's discuss what all we can do to Prevent... at least Alarming 'physical-health' issues:

    FIRST re diabetes #2: Um, why list that as #1 ?? -> what once only happened in the old, next became the disease for the young middle-aged, & now it is in ever younger ! children...- See, the kids need MORE sugar, & MORE vaccines, & MORE weight, & MORE insulin, & MORE 'metabolic syndrome', yes? - Frankly NO words exist for such criminality. Why are those who further such sick agendas not locked up ! Diabetes#2 is a Lifestyle disease.

    It doesn't matter the age: >> EVERY human needs MORE nutrition-rich foods, such as what we find in any Fertile garden...

    re Nutrition: as created Social-beings, eating alone is not fun. So all too often the elderly drink & eat far too little, while maybe feeding pet(s) as they don't want to lose them either. Particularly in an institution that makes SURE they get at least drugs, which further rob them of their senses like Smell & Taste, so then they eat even less. Then comes the 'Ensure' (total crap ! 'ensuring' more diabetes#2), so there are umpteen reasons for Nutritional deficiencies. As depression worsens, that is not life, but a 'living Heck', so No wonder (most lose will to live: that is by engineered design). - From medical malpractice, twice over, I am at zero respect, & even less trust. No pharma crap for me. - Therefore, I daily benefit from over 14 minerals, which you'll read next made all the difference, & not just for me. -

    *But you are different, so you obey & follow whomever you trust.

    continued in a minute

  • ines871
    ines871 Posts: 1,283 ✭✭✭✭✭

    re Hypertension/High BP: otoh, some elderly do the opposite: eat, eat, ... 'til their visceral/tummy FAT prevents them from seeing what the weight scale on the floor says, so checking Blood-pressure another 2 TESTs that should be added to my o.p. ... Did you know that training to walk 2 to 4 miles daily will definitely help, as the fat will be replaced by muscle... essential to keep you Upright. - Muscle burns more energy, than fat; & also weights more so achieving 2 goals at once. And to feed that healthy exercising, eat large... Veggie salads daily too. - Few teeth left, only dentures? no sweat, Blend/DRINK your salads, for real. They will Digest better, & undo constipation on top of it. - but what about dessert? - goody, DRINK a sweet Whole-fruit Smoothie, lol - All 3 of these measures, plus no cooking, will get you back to a healthy weight, even 1 pound at a time. iow mostly Plant-based meals, plus little animal proteins, seeds & nuts like Brazil-nuts for selenium. Too magnesium citrate (not calcium, & not oxide) helps & not just for calming either ... And your BP ought to stay at or below 120/80 (mine is usually 100/73, & mostly 110 lbs) BMI 19.

    *But you are different, so you obey & follow whomever you trust.

    Know that most people who have any medical 'professional' do it, get up to 15% higher result, than their usual readings, due to "white coat anxiety". --- For a correct BP-reading: sit at least 10 minutes, with both arms raised to Heart level (get both readings, 1 at a time). Have a family member, or friend or neighbor who has been rightly trained, do you these favors. Stay silent during the test. -

    re macular DEgeneration: Leading cause of blindness in the West. world. so AREDS Randomized double blind placebo control (RDBPC) study research with A, C, E, copper, & zinc on 3400+ people showed the carotenoids/Orange colors in Green & Yellow veggies were proven to reduce risk of that dreaded blindness. Along with adequate levels of Beta-carotene, C, E, magnesium & zinc showed better eyes: would you ask a doctor to test you for such values? - or just wait until blind??

    *But you are different, so you obey & follow whomever you trust.

    re glaucoma: Pressure INside the eyes can also cause blindness. So this is the 2nd EYE Test you need to have done. so again, what Lowers IOP (intra-ocular pressure)? Read https://www.amazon.com/Healing-Factor-Irwin-Stone/dp/0448116936 Biochemist Irwin Stone wrote about the importance of ascorbic acid in the human body. My eyes, Thank God continue okay; - tho still glasses for driving.

  • ines871
    ines871 Posts: 1,283 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited October 2019

    re osteoPorosis: in USA over 100,000 deaths a year just from falling... Fractures in the elderly, particularly in hip & related complications often ends-up killing 1/3 in 1 year because for too many the whole surgery-trip & Rehab/recovery proves to much of a shock! --- Gee, I ain't taking no chances on that either. Did you know that with vit. D-3 & vitamin K in Cruciferous (lots of greens) veggies & Boron: you can about half the fracture risk. What are those TESTs worth now? - I was told at age 45 that "bones had more holes than swiss cheese".

    Too, body needs Magnesium to tell the calcium where... to use it....... so 10 yrs. later I laced-up my 1st. pair of Iceskates 🤩 LOL, & (like all other students) promptly fell countless times in practice, but Never broke a bone. When I showed docs My certificates after passed my 1st. 2 sk8ing tests & picture with coach, & in a show, their eyeballs nearly fell out, docs could not believe that. Well, guess what ? >> Iceskating BUILDS bone. I proved it. MD's are NOT gonna steal my Joy, my passions, my anything else. - And what about you? - Mom, otoh, only gardened most of the day, & Sewed up a storm. She had hip replacements & her face got rearranged. -- Frankly, I like my outcomes better.

    *But you are different, so you obey & follow whomever you trust.

    re Arthritis (both rheumatoid+osteo): who in Fun, (has time for Heck/pain??) most Sr. skaters started complaining, & went to their doctors who said 'stay OFF the ice!'. ~ otoh, I added niacinamide, B6, vit. C & collagen...& in a month kissed that nasty 'Arthur Ritis' "goodbye"!! Improved grip, balance, strength & joint mobility as 1 of my ice-goal is to end a program doing Full-split, lol - so while most 'old' skaters took the elevator, I continue sprinting up the stairs, in skates in Cross-over fashion!

    *But you are different, so you obey & follow whomever you trust.

    re prostrate: guys sorry, am skipping that, too - lol

    re Pressure sores: Strange, no matter the problem, the darn vit. C yet again. Ever wonder what's Up with vit. C ? + zinc. When worked in Burn+Trauma, I observed these 2 succeeding over & over. As someone else cont. saying: "Take C, whatever the amount may be, so as to remain symptom-FREE." - Cute rhyming phrase, that actually works. I could share the amount I take daily When I am well.

    *But you are different, so you obey & follow whomever you trust.

    re Alzheimers: over half ! of LTC (longterm care Nursing-home)-beds filled with such patients, the 4th leading cause of death, & getting yet worse. Silently, it can develop for decades, before symptomology rears its head. Do you like & use organic virgin Coconut oil ? How about really enJoying it... read https://www.amazon.com/Alzheimers-Disease-There-Story-Ketones/dp/1591202930 (methylcobalamine SL). & 3/4 of folks who TESTed low on B12, also had Alzheimer's disease. Not my problem either; am just crazy, lol

    *But you are different, so you obey & follow whomever you trust.

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @rainbow Wow, you have put some thought into all of this.

    I am following your lead, eat healthy, live healthy, supplement where necessary. Avoid pharma unless in critical circumstances.

  • ines871
    ines871 Posts: 1,283 ✭✭✭✭✭
    edited October 2019

    Hi @shllnzl - After arriving in the USA at 13, I hurried to learn English (4th. language), such that at 14-16 as I started teaching Americans "Basic nutrition", --- IF you want, We can have further discussions... re what it really means to "live healthy, & eat healthy, & Supplements" etc.

    But know, that I have to Add this disclaimer: *But you are different, so you obey & follow whomever you trust. - Because I do not have an 'MD'-license. And am very glad I do not.

  • ines871
    ines871 Posts: 1,283 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Thank you for mentioning just two examples of how the public is Constantly ! manipulated...

    1. Commercials... as in tv aka tell-a-vision. "Ask your doctor... about" blah, Blah, blah

    I had the great fortune ! to Not know what a tv even was, until got shipped to the USA, where after watching the stoopid thing for a few years, Decided: "I do not need umpteen amoral & negative & harmful weirdos trying to REarrange my mind; because Blessed with intelligence I am perfectly Able to tell myself... Moral & Positive & Healthy & FUN visions.... So in our family kids were UNschooled, even as then graduated college with Honors, at age 17. --- No one in our family misses a tv, as we were too busy creating... our own... life

    and

    2. "so glad to get the OK from my doctor to Stop a drug".

    Good Lord. How did the general public get to this point: of

    ---> Feeling compelled... to traipse to a doctor (in a White coat = more manipulation), who

    ---> next BASED on his or her own "conventional" brainwashings, Orders ... (whatever), &

    ---> without so much as public doing own research,

    ---> the public just Bows to their wishes, as IF doctors were 'gods'. & DO exactly as that 'religion' says.

    @maimover Do you get all the various levels of "conventional" manipulation... going on, there ?