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Monthly Archives: April 2016

Everything for your Clinical and Diagnostic Needs

April 8 in CLIA-Waived by admin | Comments Off on Everything for your Clinical and Diagnostic Needs

Clinical decision making is usually not an easy process for any clinician. In as much as there are conditions that can be easily identified from ‘obvious’ signs or symptoms, there are conditions that lack sufficiently noticeable manifestations while others are rare conditions with symptoms that suggest other conditions and there are also those that have unusual presentations. In clinical practice, diagnostic tests along with other tests and observations help to shed light on the presence or absence of disease and how much it has progressed to provide the most appropriate treatment or therapy. Generally, diagnostic tests provide information about the health of a person.

Diagnostic tests

Although many diseases affect millions of people around the world, there are roughly 4,000 diagnostic tests that are available today. With the advancements in technology and automation, it is now easy to use tests, and the results are more accurate ensuring that precise results are produced on time. Diagnostic tests whether done in the hospital or independent laboratories, at physician offices or home are what caregivers and physicians depend upon to prevent, diagnose, treat and manage different conditions and make an impact on the lives of millions of people.

Diagnostic test categories

Diagnostic tests can be categorized into 5 groups: molecular (a study of RNA and DNA), general chemistry (measurement of base compounds), hematology (a study of blood), microbiology (Detection of disease-causing organisms) and immunochemistry (matching of antibody-antigen response). In vitro, diagnostic tests are among the most common tests done in modern health care provision. It involves the tests done on samples taken from the body like blood, spinal fluid, urine, saliva, and DNA. The complexity of the tests differs with the simple ones being done at home or physician offices and complex ones done in large laboratories using expensive equipment and reagents together with sophisticated methods that require highly skilled technicians and personnel to perform and interpret the results.

Indications of diagnostic procedures

So, what are medical indications that warrant a diagnostic procedure? Usually, you will feel that there is a problem with a part of your body system when you have signs like pain, inability to do things that you have always been able to do, fever and fatigue among other signs of disease. The first thing to do under such circumstances would be to see a doctor and express your complaint. To determine your condition, the doctor or physician will need to establish any deviation from what is known to be normal body functioning. This can be described in terms of physiology, anatomy, psychology, homeostasis and pathology. This simply means determining your particular deviation parameters from the normal and the degree of deviation that may warrant further diagnostic procedures to be done.

Importance of diagnostic tests

There are over 7 billion diagnostic tests done in the United States each year, and the numbers are growing each day as more and more people demand diagnostic tests because they are becoming aware of their quality indicators. Apart from diagnosis, diagnostic tests help in:

  • Early detection of diseases to prevent it,
  • Identifying the stage of disease to determine its severity,
  • Drug selection and treatment monitoring for accurate and targeted treatment to suit individual needs and
  • In disease monitoring and management to evaluate the success of treatment and the need for further tests and treatment.

Clinical diagnosis made based on medical signs, and patient information should be accompanied with the performance of diagnostic tests for accurate diagnosis and respective administration of treatments and therapy and to reduce cases of diagnostic errors.

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How to Survive Allergy Season

April 8 in Allergy by admin | Comments Off on How to Survive Allergy Season

Year after year, seasonal pollen has been on a steady rise, and it is, therefore, important to have a solid allergy survival plan in readiness for spring break. But, why such high levels of pollen? Climatic changes are the main culprits with the rise in worldwide greenhouse gases, temperatures, large amounts of precipitation and the over-cultivation of male plants have resulted in more intense and longer allergy seasons.

You need to stay a step ahead this spring for an allergy-free spring break. The first thing you need to know is whether you have seasonal allergies so you can come up with a custom allergen control plan. The second thing you need to realize, especially if you are allergy prone, allergy medication – oral antihistamines, steroids and eye drops work best before allergy symptoms take hold. You will need less medication if you take it before a peak allergy period.

Allergies can affect your sleep pattern especially if you are taking drowsiness-inducing meds that make you sleepy during the day. Get the right medication, recommended by your physician, to control your allergies. Here are some tips on how to survive allergy season:

Get out of your work clothes and shoes as soon as you get home

This will stop you from carrying pollen and other allergens into your home, where they can continue triggering your allergy symptoms to act up. Kick off your shoes outside your entry door and toss your clothes into a hamper and take a shower, to wash off any lingering allergens, then change into something nice, clean and allergen free.

If you have a pet, wipe their fur and paws when they enter your house to remove any clinging pollen

Wear a pollen mask for all your outdoor chores

During lawn mowing or gardening wear a pollen mask, avoid touching your face and eyes and wear gloves to minimize your exposure to allergen particles. Look for a pollen mask marked N95 as this means that it meets the standards of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health by filtering up to 95 percent of allergen particles.

Shift your workout indoors

Always check the pollen counts in your region in the morning and shift your workout indoors when they are high. Though this will mean trading your beautiful outdoor training for an exercise DVD in your living room or a treadmill, you are going to be allergy free.

It is also important to note that pollen is often highest in the afternoon, you should, therefore, run your errands in the morning hours or late in the evening to avoid a pollen encounter.

Become window savvy

If you are extremely allergic to pollen, you probably want to keep your windows closed and run your AC instead. But, if you are affected by in-house allergens such as dust or mold, you will need to keep all your windows open to let fresh air in, which will help clear your indoor allergens.

Take all your allergy symptoms seriously

It’s easy to brush off your lingering headaches or nasal congestions as ‘simple allergies’, but truth be told, allergy symptoms left unattended can take a huge toll on your health and well-being. If you are feeling extremely lousy, listen to your body and have some rest. Continuing with your business as usual when you feel sick will only make your symptoms worse. Don’t wait until your symptoms are at their peak for you to seek medical attention.

Enjoy the beautiful outdoors this spring with these practical, simple and proven ways to help you survive the allergy season.

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How to Get to the Root of your Patients’ Allergy-Like Symptoms

April 8 in RAST testing by admin | Comments Off on How to Get to the Root of your Patients’ Allergy-Like Symptoms

Allergy is a very common condition that affects millions of people who are allergic to the things that they eat, breathe or touch. The problem with many people who experience allergy-like symptoms is that they rush to taking antihistamines without confirming if they have an allergy or not and what is it that they are allergic to. Others rely on free allergy screening and home test kit results to confirm their allergies. However, there are those who know the importance of seeing a doctor for their allergy-like symptoms, and when they do that, they expect you as the doctor to provide solutions to their problems.

Start with examination

Allergy –like symptoms can be caused by an allergy, several allergies or other things that are not related to allergies at all. As a doctor, you should be able to confirm an allergy suspicion, determine the responsible allergens or rule out allergy and the first thing your patient needs is not an allergy test but a doctor’s examination. The reason against relying on allergy tests alone is the risk of getting a ‘false positive’ result especially with free screening services offered by drugstores and supermarkets and home allergy testing kits. Your examination together with the medical history of your patient should confirm the suspicion of an allergy and also whether to proceed with an allergy test or not.

Making an accurate allergy diagnosis based on medical history, clinical observations and antibody testing is crucial because any wrong test can mean a waste of money and unnecessary lifestyle changes for your patient whose condition is far away from being an allergy plus the problem will not be solved in the long run.

If you suspect food allergies, you should recommend an elimination diet by identifying suspected foods causing the allergy symptoms and supervising it over a period. For the confirmation of other allergies, skin and blood allergy tests should be done.

Refer to an allergist to perform an allergy test

Doing allergy tests is usually done to know which substances are responsible for allergy symptoms. You can order either skin or blood allergy test depending on the nature of the symptoms.

Skin allergy test

If your patient exhibits allergy symptoms like the ones associated with food allergies, allergic rhinitis, asthma, skin rashes, angioedema, hives, venom and penicillin and related drugs allergy, skin tests may be done either by a prick test or intradermal skin test for venom and penicillin allergy tests. Before a skin test, you will need to prepare your patient in advance concerning the medicines that should not be taken like antihistamines because they influence the results of the allergy skin tests. Skin tests usually involve placing several suspected allergens on the skin and then the skin is pricked for the allergen to go under the skin. The skin is then watched for reaction signs for about 15-20 minutes.

Blood allergy tests

You should be able to order an allergy blood test if your patient is using antihistamines, has a severe skin condition, has a heart condition and unable to tolerate skin scratches or needles as in children. In allergy blood tests, either an ELISA test which measures the quantity of allergen-specific antibodies (IgE) in your blood or RAST test which looks for allergen-specific antibodies to identify the allergen is used.

Whatever the type of allergy test that you do on your patient, it should help you in knowing the root cause of allergy symptoms that your patient is experiencing. A negative result rules out allergy while a positive result means that the patient is allergic to that particular substance.

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How to Identify Allergy Triggers

April 8 in RAST testing by admin | Comments Off on How to Identify Allergy Triggers

Diagnosing patients with allergies isn’t as easy as it seems, but it is generally simple. While allergy triggers can vary, the processes for diagnosing the exact allergy are fairly straightforward. Some can be done by the patient at home but take time, while others need laboratory evaluations but are fairly fast. Here’s a look at five ways to identify allergy triggers.

Elimination

This is usually used for potential food and skin allergies. The patient needs to start eliminating various foods and cosmetics/cleaning substances from his or her life, gradually adding them back in. For example, someone who has noticed a rash popping up more often after the person eats shellfish needs to eliminate all shellfish, any derivatives from shellfish, and anything that could be contaminated by shellfish for several days (10 days to 2 weeks is a common time period). If the rash clears up, the patient adds one specific food back in and waits another few days to see if the rash comes back. As you can see, this can take a long time and be easily derailed if the patient accidentally eats one of the test foods at the wrong time.

Location and Season History

This is a fairly simple procedure, but it takes a long time. Basically, the patient has to notice when and where the allergy occurred. Sometimes the result is inconclusive, and the patient has to have more specific tests done. But many times, the patient can quickly figure out if the problem has to do with a pet, a dwelling (e.g., one with a mold problem), or a seasonal pollen. This method will not distinguish between true allergic rhinitis and vasomotor rhinitis, but it can show the patient what he or she needs to avoid.

Skin Prick Test

This is the basic lab test done for allergies initially and is read by the doctor or nurse in the same lab or office. Note that it works for IgE-based allergies only. It can test for food, medication, and environmental allergies — pretty much anything that can be turned into an extract or administered via needle. A small amount of the suspect substance is placed just under the top skin layers with a needle, along with a glycerin control test spot. The reaction of the skin to the substance, and that reaction compared to the reaction to the glycerin, tells you whether an allergy is present. Note that hidden skin conditions like dermatographia can make this difficult; if the person reacts to the glycerin, too, the test becomes unreadable.

RAST Test

This is a blood test given when skin tests are not readable or doable. A blood sample is used to detect antibodies to allergens. The blood sample is not tested immediately unless there are no other tests in line for evaluation, so it can be a couple of days before results show up. This is another IgE-only test.

Biopsy and Other Invasive Tests

For allergies caused by antibodies other than IgE, a biopsy or other invasive test may need to be done.

Whether you send RAST samples out to another lab or have an attached lab department with techs who can administer skin prick tests, having a good lab that can accurately evaluate test results is crucial when it comes to allergies. Ensure that your patients receive the correct diagnosis by choosing your lab carefully.

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