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| Tests, General Diagnostic |
Last updated: Jul 17, 2008 |
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Tests, General Diagnostic |
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 Tests, General Diagnostic can help with the following: | |  | | | | Autoimmune |  Addison's Disease | Measuring your blood levels of sodium, potassium, cortisol and ACTH gives your doctor an initial indication of whether adrenal insufficiency may be causing your signs and symptoms. A blood test also can measure antibodies associated with autoimmune Addison's disease. |
Lupus, SLE (Systemic Lupus Erythromatosis)| | Diagnosing lupus can be a difficult and slow process. It may take months or even years for doctors to piece together the symptoms to diagnose this complex disease accurately.
No single test can determine whether a person has lupus, but several laboratory tests may help the doctor to make a diagnosis. The most useful tests identify certain autoantibodies often present in the blood of people with lupus. For example, the antinuclear antibody (ANA) test is commonly used to look for autoantibodies that react against components of the nucleus, or "command center," of the patient’s own cells.
Most people with lupus test positive for ANA; however, there are a number of other causes of a positive ANA besides lupus, including infections, other rheumatic or immune diseases, and occasionally as a finding in normal healthy adults. The ANA test simply provides another clue for the doctor to consider in making a diagnosis.
In addition, there are blood tests for individual types of autoantibodies that are more specific to people with lupus, although not all people with lupus test positive for these and not all people with these antibodies have lupus. These antibodies include anti-DNA, anti-Sm, anti-RNP, anti-Ro (SSA), and anti-La (SSB). The doctor may use these antibody tests to help make a diagnosis of lupus. |
Sjogren's Syndrome| | During the 85th General Session of the International Association for Dental Research, scientists are reporting that, instead of blood tests and biopsy, saliva can be used to detect primary Sjögren's Syndrome (pSS), an autoimmune disease which affects about 4 million American, 90% being women. pSS patients are 40 times more at risk than healthy people to develop lymphoma, a fatal lymphocytic cancer. |
 Gluten Sensitivity / Celiac Disease| | If you suspect that you or anyone in your family might have celiac disease, or a gluten-sensitivity, you can ask your doctor to perform a tTG (tissue transgluminase test). Remember, if you have already eliminated wheat or gluten products from your diet, the test results will be negative, even if you have the sensitivity. However, if you have been consuming wheat
products and have the sensitivity, this test will do a better job of picking it up than previous tests.
Testing for fecal antigliadin IgA antibody is another test that some labs provide to help determine if there is a problem with gluten / gliadin consumption. |
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Circulation |
Angina| | Some heart problems are easier to diagnose when your heart is working harder and beating faster than when it's at rest. During stress testing, you exercise (or are given medicine if you are unable to exercise) to make your heart work harder and beat faster while heart tests are performed. During exercise stress testing, your blood pressure and EKG readings are monitored while you walk or run on a treadmill or pedal a bicycle. Other heart tests, such as nuclear heart scanning or echocardiography, also can be done at the same time. These would be ordered if your doctor needs more information than the exercise stress test can provide about how well your heart is working. |
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Immunity |
Chronic Fatigue / Fibromyalgia Syndrome| | Testing for urinary growth hormone levels could be helpful, as this important hormone is often low in those with CFS / fibromyalgia. |
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Lab Values |
 Hypoalbuminemia (A low albumin level)| | A test for albumin level is usually included in a metabolic profile, otherwise known as a Chem 16, Chem 20, etc.. |
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Metabolic |
Narcolepsy| | Polysomnography
Nocturnal polysomnography remains an important part of the evaluation process in the diagnosis of sleep disorders.
Multiple Sleep Latency Test
Once a "normal" night's sleep has been confirmed and other causes of excessive daytime sleepiness, such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and periodic limb movement disorder (PLMD), have been excluded, a multiple sleep latency test (MSLT) is performed, usually the morning after polysomnography. The MSLT is a similar test, but it measures fewer parameters. The MSLT measures EEG, EOG, chin EMG, and usually heart rate. The patient attempts to take four to five 20-minute naps (depending on the protocol) every 2 hours throughout the day. After these naps, the time it takes the patient to fall asleep (sleep latency) is averaged. Sleep latency usually fluctuates in narcolepsy patients, where it may lengthen, but will most often remain shorter than normal latency.
Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) hypocretin-1 assessment
It has been found that many (about 90% of narcolepsy-cataplexy subjects) patients with narcolepsy have very low or undetectable levels of hypocretin-1/orexin A in the cerebrospinal fluid. |
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Organ Health |
Diabetes Type II / Risk| | Determination of hemoglobin A1c is valuable for the follow-up of diabetic patients and useful for measuring a diabetic tendency. While blood glucose monitoring is like a snapshot, hemoglobin A1c testing is more like a full length movie - it provides a view of how your blood glucose level has been doing over a period of two to three months. For people who have not undergone any major changes in their lifestyle or diabetes regimen, hemoglobin A1c tests provide a good assessment of long-term blood glucose control.
For monitoring diabetes, a satisfactory interval for test taking is every third month. It has been shown that well controlled diabetics have a lower incidence of complications. Since costs for treatment of diabetics are high, hemoglobin A1c testing is very cost effective. |
Cirrhosis of the Liver| | Today, the only way to detect cirrhosis is through a biopsy - where a tissue sample is taken by injecting a needle through the skin into the liver. Biopsy is not entirely risk-free and is very expensive.
VIB researcher Nico Callewaert and his colleagues in the team of Roland Contreras (Dept. for Molecular Biomedical Research, Ghent University) have developed a new method that only requires a little blood in order to detect the cirrhosis stage reliably. In a test group of patients, the researchers succeeded in detecting 70 to 80% of the early liver cirrhoses. Not a single patient was diagnosed incorrectly.
The new test detects changes in the quantities of the various sugars that are produced by the liver, which occur in the transition from fibrosis to cirrhosis. The researchers have been able to measure the sugar changes quite accurately with advanced instrumentation that is already being used in clinical laboratories, but for genetic tests.
The test is now being perfected. Through future collaborations with industry, the researchers hope to arrive at a test that is easy to use and that shows 100% specificity for cirrhosis of the liver. The test could then be used to follow people with chronic hepatitis C viral infection. [8-Mar-2004 Prof. Roland Contreras, Flanders Interuniversity Institute of Biotechnology ] |
Gallbladder Disease| | The ultrasound uses sound waves to visualize the bile ducts, liver, and pancreas. When gallstones are present, they are seen in either the gallbladder or bile ducts. Little risk is associated with the ultrasound test. The ultrasound may not see gallstones in obese patients, or in patients who have recently eaten. |
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Tumors, Malignant |
Breast Cancer| | In the U.S., a novel technology soon may be available to detect the spread, or metastasis, of breast cancer earlier than now possible, according to research presented at the first international meeting on Molecular Diagnostics in Cancer Therapeutic Development, organized by the American Association for Cancer Research.
Since secondary tumors, ignited by spreading malignant cells, and not the primary breast cancer tumor, are the primary cause of cancer death, early detection of metastatic spread is crucial to a woman's prognosis.
Albert said that the company's diagnostic tool, which is being evaluated in clinical studies at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, can spot one malignant cell in a typical blood sample. A typical sample is 5 milliliters and contains over 2.5 x 1010 cells.
As a biomarker for breast cancer metastasis, cancer cells circulating in the blood system have not been easy to detect and analyze because they are a "needle in the haystack" among the millions of cells in the bloodstream.
However, Albert said that AdnaGen's technology can detect the "needle" with a specificity of 97 percent (only three "false" positive results in tests of 100 seemingly healthy people).
"Metastasis usually is detected by costly, cumbersome physical methods like computer tomography (CT)," added Albert. "We have seen cases, where our test was positive, when there was still no clinical evidence. But at a careful second look through a CT scan, small metastatic lesions have been detected."
To produce its diagnostic tool, AdnaGen links an antibody-mix to magnetic beads. This antibody-mix is tailored to home in on specific molecular features, or antigens, of the respective cancer cells.
When exposed to a blood sample, the magnetic antibody-beads capture tumor cells possessing the specified antigens. A magnetic particle concentrator then removes the tumor cells labeled with the magnetic beads, and the cells are then analyzed to identify several gene products, including potential molecular targets for a specific drug.
Using this technology, AdnaGen discovered that the genetic signatures of the breast cancer and its metastases may differ, with the circulating tumor cells reflecting the gene expression profile of the metastases.
When a metastases has been diagnosed, treatments "usually has been chosen according to the features of the primary tumor, neglecting the fact that metastases can differ considerably from them," Albert noted.
AdnaGen, which is marketing its breast cancer assay (as well as assays for colon and prostate cancer) in Europe, is awaiting the results of a clinical trial before applying for FDA approval to make the test available in the U.S. [Medical News Today 15 Sep 2006] |
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Uro-Genital |
Endometriosis| | Endometriosis is a notoriously difficult condition to diagnose, the conclusion often being reached only after excluding other problems. The presence of endometriosis can only be confirmed through examination of the tissue. Fiberoptic laparoscopic techniques allow a direct look at the problematic tissue. The average age at diagnosis is 37 years, and the majority of cases occur in women between the ages of 25 and 40. Endometriosis is rare before the onset of menstruation and after menopause but not unknown. |
Female Infertility| | If both the semen analysis and hormone tests are normal, there is also additional testing that your fertility specialist may recommend. These tests include any of the following:- Hysterosalpingogram (HSG): This is simply an x-ray of your uterus and fallopian tubes. A blue dye is injected through the cervix into the uterus and fallopian tubes. The dye enables the radiologist to see if there is blockage or any other problems.
- Hysteroscopy: A procedure that may be used if the HSG indicates that there may be problems. The hysteroscope is inserted through the cervix into the uterus, which allows your fertility specialist to see any abnormalities, growths or scarring in the uterus. The hysteroscope allows your physician to take pictures which may be used for future reference.
- Laparoscopy: A procedure which uses a narrow fiber optic telescope. The laparoscope is inserted through a woman’s abdomen to look at the uterus, fallopian tubes, and ovaries. Your physician will be checking for endometriosis, scar tissue, or other adhesions. It is important to confirm that you are not pregnant before this test is performed.
- Endometrial biopsy: This is a procedure which involves scraping a small amount of tissue from the endometrium just prior to menstruation. This biopsy is performed to assess whether there is a hormonal imbalance or not. It is important to confirm that you are not pregnant before this test is performed.
These tests are not mandatory and your fertility specialist will know which tests best fit your situation. |
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KEY | | May do some good | | | Likely to help | | | Highly recommended |
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