A lab test has become a very important and powerful diagnostic tool for doctors – may it be risk assessment, confirming his clinical judgment, diagnosing infections, cancers, treatment follow up or effect of drugs or hormone imbalance etc. In short we all will need lab test some time or the other. In this web page, we have tried our best to give you correct general information. Some information may vary depending on the protocol followed by the laboratory you may visit.
Test | Fasting period |
---|---|
Blood Sugar Fasting test(Plasma Glucose) |
8 hours |
Lipid profile(Cholesterol-total, HDL, LDL and Triglycerides test) |
12 hours |
Metabolic test Panel- SMA 12+2, Pacer 20, Auto-14 etc. |
12 hours |
Renal(kidney) Function test |
8 hours |
Hypertension Profile, Diabetes Profile, Obesity Profile, etc |
12 hours |
All Health Check-ups, Complete Body Profile |
12 hours |
Uric Acid |
8 hrs recommended by some clinicians. |
The American Heart Association warns against quick cholesterol tests you find in malls and health fairs/camps because fasting is imperative to obtaining an accurate result.
Stay hydrated and drink plenty of water. Take any medication that your doctor prescribed to you except for corticosteroids, estrogen or androgens, oral contraceptives, some diuretics, anti-psychotic medications including haloperidol, some antibiotics, and niacin. Please consult your doctor for confirmation. Try and take an early morning appointment for your test and after performing the blood draw for your test, you can take these prescribed medicines.
Do not smoke, drink any other liquid than water, or exercise during your fast. Even chewing gum is off-. Any of these elements can adversely affect your test results.
The post-lunch sugar test is done at 2 hours of starting your regular lunch. For eg. If Mr.Shah has started his lunch at 12.00 noon, he needs to complete his blood collection at 2.00 pm. Mr.Shah will require to reach the lab at 1.50 pm, i.e. 10 minutes early to avoid registration delays. Also, Mr.Shah cannot have any food after finishing his lunch for 2 hours. He can have water and his medicines.
After completing your registration(5-20 minutes) it usually takes 5-15 minutes for completing your blood draw. But depending on your test requirements the time may vary. In case you have additional tests after lunch blood test you may have to come back to the lab. If you have additional ECG, X-ray and other imaging tests the usual time taken may be 30 minutes to 2 hours. For health check-up, you may usually spend up to 1-2 hours in the morning and 1-2 hours in the afternoon at the lab. For some tests like FNAC, 2-D ECHO cardiograph, and PAP smear a prior appointment is necessary.
Usually, for the common tests done in-house, the test reports will be available on the same day evening. For special tests like microbiology cultures, many immunoassay test, histopathology test, etc. the reports will be available after the scheduled date of performing the test. Special test are not performed daily and hence may take longer time- few days to few weeks in some cases. The test receipt given to you at the time of registration will indicate the tentative date on which your reports will be ready.
Hormone test do not require fasting. The baseline level for most of the hormones in the body is in the morning. Though the majority of these tests can be done at any time, morning time is preferred. Some tests like Cortisol, Insulin, etc. may have to be done at the exact time prescribed by your doctor.
In general, there is no recommended age for a health check-up. Health check-up is recommended for all adults from age of 18 years onwards. Most of the health check-ups today will include.
- Common blood tests like CBC, Blood sugar, Urine routine examination.
- Preventive test check-up panels assessing the risk of certain diseases e.g. heart disease, cancer.
- Assess the general status of important organs like the liver, kidney, and thyroid gland.
- Diabetes monitoring.
- Arthritis tests.
- Radiology test like X-ray chest/Sonography of abdomen test and ECG check-up.
- Check for nutritional deficiencies.
The common test for detecting thyroid gland problems is called the Thyroid function test which includes Free T3, Free T4 and TSH(Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) tests or Total T3, Total T4, and TSH(Thyroid Stimulating Hormone) tests. These tests can detect whether you have hypo-thyroidism (Slow working thyroid gland) or Hyper-thyroidism (Fast working thyroid gland). Also, the Thyroid antibodies test is useful to rule out autoimmune thyroid problems.
For suspected thyroid problems Thyroid 7 profile which includes all-important test for the thyroid gland can be performed.
In case you wish to screen yourself for HIV infection the usual screening test is called HIV sceening test. At our lab, we perform a fourth-generation HIV-combo or HIV-duo screening test which can detect HIV infection as early as 7 days after infection. As this screening test can sometimes give false results if this test is positive you will require to do a confirmatory HIV Western-blot test. In case of negative result, it is recommended to do a follow-up screening test after 3-4 months. A more better and gold standard test for detecting early infection is called HIV PCR qualitative test for detecting HIV DNA or RNA. These test will be positive after 1-2 days after infection with HIV.
Anemia in simple terms means low Blood Hemoglobin. Hemoglobin within Red Blood Cells(RBCs) is responsible for carrying oxygen to the various body organs. In general, if you have low hemoglobin you will look pale, feel tired easily, you may feel breathless or fatigued easily, and many other symptoms. Also, you are predisposed to getting frequent infections.
The few common tests for anemia are :
- Complete blood count: For finding out your Hemoglobin levels.
- Retic count: For finding out your bone marrow status(Bone marrow produces blood cells).
- Iron studies: To rule out Iron deficiency common cause of anemia.
- Vitamin B12 and Folic Acid tests: To look for nutritional deficiency causing anemia.
- Hemoglobin Variants or Hb Electrophoresis test: To look for hemoglobin defects like Thalassemia.
- Stool routine examination: To look for occult blood and parasites in stool.
The recommended test for anemia called the Anemia profile covers all the above-mentioned tests.
The most important lab test for osteoporosis screening is the Vitamin D3 test. This test will indicate whether you have a deficiency of this vitamin or not. If you are deficient in Vit. D3 you are predisposed to osteoporosis. You will then require to consult your doctor for further evaluation and treatment. To screen for Osteoporosis, an Osteoporosis profile which includes bone tests like Calcium, Phosphorus and Alkaline phosphatase along with Vitamin D3 and BMD tests can be performed.
Yes, Lab test can help you find out your biochemical risk for heart disease. Apart from lifestyle and hereditary risk factors, there are biochemical risk factors that may predispose you to heart disease. A comprehensive biochemical risk assessment of Coronary heart disease can be done by performing a Coronary(Heart Attack) Risk Profile which covers tests like Lipid profile, Apo-lipoproteins, Lipoprotein(a), Homocysteine, D-Dimer all of which if abnormal are risk factors for coronary heart disease.
Vitamin B12 is one of the important vitamins of the Vitamin B complex. It’s deficiency leads to Hematological or blood abnormalities and Neurogical (Nerves) abnormalities.
Vitamin D3 is not only important for bones but is now also been shown to take some part in autoimmune disease, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.
In our country the deficiency of Vit.B12 and Vit.D3 is very common and widespread. Hence it is important for you to detect these deficiencies and take corrective steps.
In the case of urine routine and culture tests the best sample for testing in the morning urine sample. The urine is collected after cleaning private parts and allowing some initial urine to pass(Mid-Stream urine sample).In case you have symptoms of Urinary tract infection like fever, burning pain, increased frequency of urination- urine spot sample can also be collected for testing. 50 ml or more of urine should be collected for testing whenever possible. Test samples should be transported to the lab as soon as possible within one hour of collection.
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- You can also book visit Via website or email – we will revert back to you within 24 hours.
- Additional Home collection charges are applicable.
- RT PCR (Express Genexpert test): 3-4 hours.
- RT PCR (Trunat test): 12-16 hours.
- RT PCR ( Conventional/ Semi-Automated): 24-30 hours ( COMING SOON).
- Covid Antigen test – 3-4 hours.
- Covid19 IgG Quantitative Antibody test – Within 24 Hours.
- Fever Profile (Basic/Standard): For early fever less than 5-7 days.
- Fever Profile (Comprehensive): For fever more than 5-7 days.
- Fever with Cough & Cold: Specifically For Flu-Like Symptoms.
- Fever with Low Platelet (Standard/Comprehensive): Specifically for a suspected case of Malaria, Dengue & Chikungunya.
- 3-5 days of abstinence is needed for this test.
- The test is available between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm on weekdays.
- Sample collection is preferably done at our center.
- In case the sample is collected at home it has to be delivered to Lab in 30 minutes. Samples to be collected in Container provided by our Lab.
- Yes, we arrange Portable X-Ray by appointment.
- Portable X-ray is only for patients who are bed ridden.
- Few X-Ray cannot be done at Home such as X-Ray Spine and X-Ray Hips, etc.
- Pap Smear
- FNAC
- 2D ECHO
- Human Papillomavirus (HPV) PCR
- Semen Analysis