Routine blood work, also known in our naturopathic test list as “The Healthy Living Profile”, is a comprehensive blood test that looks at routine and functional blood work by examining specific biomarkers and can provide valuable insight into a person’s overall health and wellbeing.
Blood tests are a simple way to help detect potential health problems and identify nutritional deficiencies before they become serious and can be helpful and potentially indicated for any age group from pediatrics, middle aged adults, and the elderly.
Develop a baseline of your health
One of the main benefits of routine blood work is that it provides a baseline of a person’s overall health. By comparing results from multiple blood tests over time, doctors can track changes and detect any abnormalities.
Routine blood work can help evaluate factors for anemia, infections, and liver or kidney dysfunction, thyroid disease, inflammation, vitamin and mineral levels, immune system defects, even before symptoms appear.
Preventative measures
Comprehensive and functional blood work is more targeted to looking at the health preventatively and reviewing the results for subclinical values that and can provide information on specific areas of health versus waiting to test until symptoms are apparent.
For example, a thyroid panel can measure the levels of thyroid hormones, which can indicate whether a person has an underactive or overactive thyroid or an autoimmune thyroiditis.
Functional blood work can also evaluate hormone levels, nutrient deficiencies, and markers of inflammation and oxidative stress, which are all important factors for overall health.
Identify risk for chronic disease
Another benefit of routine and functional blood work is that they can help identify risk factors for chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
By monitoring blood glucose and insulin levels, doctors can detect pre-diabetes or diabetes early on and help prevent complications. In addition to identifying potential health problems, routine and functional blood work can also help monitor existing health conditions or monitor the progress of patients on new diet, supplement, or lifestyle programs.
Measure the results over time
These routine checks can provide motivation to maintain a healthy lifestyle or just offer positive feedback that everything is healthy and going well. By seeing improvements in blood test results over time, people can feel more motivated to continue making healthy choices such as eating a balanced diet, exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep.
Develop a “Healthy Living Profile”
Routine and functional blood work such as the “Healthy Living Profile” that we offer at Arbour Wellness Centre in Nanaimo, can provide valuable information on a person’s overall health, and help detect potential health problems early on. By monitoring blood test results annually, naturopathic doctors can identify changes and intervene before health problems become serious.
It is a nice option to be able to order these tests as desired for your targeted health care goals. Most of these blood tests are ordered through LifeLabs and are often covered by extended health care and benefit plans.
Get in touch to start your healthy living profile.
