Traveling is fun, but you’re also at risk of developing diseases. Doctors and other healthcare professionals can diagnose the most common medical problems, like infection, anemia, diabetes, and heart disease, with the results of a blood test. For example, a blood test is usually prescribed to check the body’s capability to fight infection if a patient has a fever, as evidenced by a high white blood cell count.
In this post, you’ll learn the common problems that blood tests can diagnose. This way, you’re made aware of the recommended type of blood test for your situation, most especially if you love traveling.
Diabetes
If you have diabetes and love traveling, you should prompt to find out your testing options. This ensures that you’re able to monitor your condition while enjoying your trip.
The different chemicals of the blood can be measured through blood chemistry tests or a Basic Metabolic Panel (BMP). These tests are usually performed on the plasma or fluid part of the blood to detect if your organs are correctly functioning, like your pancreas, liver, and kidney.
BMP is prescribed to measure blood glucose levels among patients with suspected diabetes and even to monitor the condition of a diabetic patient. If you have diabetes, the excess blood glucose can attach to the hemoglobin and raises the level of your hemoglobin A1c.
Here are the essential things to remember when undergoing a blood glucose test:
- You need to fast before the procedure.
- Your blood is drawn by a medical technologist or a doctor. It is, then, sent to the laboratory for testing.
- Other blood glucose tests are carried out after a meal, and some don’t require any preparation.
Infection
When you’re new to a place, a tourist visiting a new country, or you love traveling abroad, there’s an increased risk of infection caused by a lot of reasons. For instance, visiting Asian countries increases your risk of developing disease caused by insect bites, like mosquitoes, particularly dengue fever.
A patient with on and off fever, decreased appetite, rashes, and vomiting may be advised to take a complete blood and platelet count to confirm the diagnosis. WBC is one of the blood markers associated with infection that a blood test can detect.
Here are the facts about WBC and blood test:
- As a crucial part of the immune system, white blood cells (WBC) help fight infections and diseases.
- When your white blood cell count is too high or too low, it’s a possible sign of infection, an immune system disorder, or blood cancer.
- A complete blood count (CBC) measures your total WBC count in your blood. On the other hand, a CBC test looks at the different types of WBC in your blood.
Anemia
Anemia is a result of low iron or oxygen levels in the blood. Red blood cells (RBC) carry oxygen from the respiratory system to the rest of your body. If your cells and tissues don’t receive the right amount of oxygen, you’ll feel dizzy, look pale, and feel tired all the time. These are the typical signs and symptoms of anemia.
If anemia is suspected, here are the blood components that need to be tested:
- Red Blood Cells (RBC): An abnormal red blood cell count can be a sign of anemia, bleeding, dehydration or too little fluid in the body, or another medical disorder.
- Hemoglobin: A hemoglobin is the iron-rich protein of the red blood cells. It is responsible for carrying and transporting oxygen to the cells and tissues. Abnormal hemoglobin levels are a possible sign of blood disorders, like anemia, thalassemia, or sickle cell anemia.
- Hematocrit: It measures how much space RBC can take up in your blood. A low hematocrit level is indicative of anemia or bone marrow and blood disorder.
- Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV): It measures the average size of RBC. Abnormal MCV levels are a possible sign of anemia or thalassemia.
Cardiovascular Disorder
Hypertension, atherosclerosis, rheumatic heart disease, and other cardiovascular disorders are also detected with blood tests. If you experience chest pain when hiking or mountain climbing, the doctor may prescribe a blood enzyme test to check your troponin and creatine kinase. Troponin helps in heart muscle contraction. An increased level of troponin in the blood could mean an impending heart attack. On the other hand, an increased level of creatine kinase means a damaged heart muscle.
High cholesterol levels, as shown in the lipoprotein panel, can help the doctor diagnose if you’re at risk of developing coronary heart disease. It measures the good (HDL) and bad (LDL) cholesterol and triglycerides in the blood. High LDL levels could mean a buildup of cholesterol and blockage in your arteries. Fasting is usually required for a lipoprotein panel (9 to 12 hours).
Conclusion
Blood tests come in different types, like a CBC, blood enzyme tests, blood chemistry tests, and blood tests that can assess the risk of heart disease. Aside from the ones already mentioned above, a blood test can also detect dehydration. A high hematocrit level in a CBC blood test might mean that you’re dehydrated. A traveler should always remain hydrated to avoid major health problems.
