Testing Methods Your Doctor Might Use to Diagnose Your Condition

In the last several decades, numerous types of medical testing have helped doctors to make informed decisions about disease diagnosis and treatment. Today’s medical tests can diagnose everything from diabetes and hormonal deficiencies to cancer and genetic disorders. These five tests are the most common ones used by doctors in clinics and hospitals.

 

Biopsies

Some tests look directly at body tissue samples, called biopsies. During a biopsy, the doctor removes a small portion of tissue; the tissue may come from the skin, the mucous membranes or internal organs. Most often, a biopsy tests for cancer. This involves testing a small section of skin or of an abnormal growth.

 

Body Fluid Samples

The second test is a urinalysis, which tests the urine. Doctors can use this test for many reasons, including checking for drugs, pregnancy, infection, kidney disease and more. Another test that checks body fluids is blood work using hematology stains. Blood can be checked for the presence of drugs or infection. It also checks hormone, mineral, blood cell, glucose and oxygen levels and can determine the presence or extent of some diseases, such as kidney failure or heart attacks.

 

Radiography

Other tests help doctors look inside the body. Radiography uses electromagnetic waves to look at the bones, muscles and organs in the body. The most common type of radiation, the x-ray, is used to determine if bones are broken, teeth are decayed or tumors or other foreign objects are in the body. Other types of radiation include the mammogram, used to check breast tissue, and magnetic resonance imaging and computerized tomography, used to look at organs within the body, such as the brain, heart, kidneys and liver.

 

Stress Tests

Finally, a stress test uses a combination of exercise and monitoring to determine the health of the heart. This is a noninvasive test, meaning that no needles or probes will be inserted into the body. Instead, the patient’s blood pressure heart rate and rhythm will be monitored before during and after strenuous activity on a treadmill. This test helps doctors determine the strength of the heart and the extent of heart disease.

 

Many of these tests are truly modern marvels, some of which were not used until the 1900s. They help doctors understand what is happening to the cells and organs of the body, how effective treatments are and if a disease is progressing or has disappeared. This sampling of the five most common types of medical tests that may ordered will help patients and their family members be prepared for visits to their doctors.

Categories: body, doctor, Doctors, heart, medical tests, methods, Test, Testing, tests

How to Use Red Wine to Keep You Looking Young

Those who enjoy an occasional glass of wine don’t need to feel guilty anymore – it turns out that it could be great for your wellness and wellbeing, especially in terms of anti-aging. Recent research has shown that those who drink red wine from time to time have less chance of suffering from heart disease than those who do not drink. On top of that, scientists have found that there is a strong link between red wine and anti-aging. It turns out that drinking red wine in moderation may be a powerful way to improve your lifespan and your cardiovascular health. It is, however, vital that you choose the correct type of red wine.

 

Only wine that has been produced using the traditional production methods actually has a high enough concentration of the active ingredients that keep you looking young. This ingredient is found in wines that have been produced in Sardinia, Italy and in the South West of France. Wines from these regions were tested, and it was found that they had higher levels of polyphenols (in fact they were up to 10 times higher in these wines than in wines from the New World).

 

When researchers looked further into why this might be, they discovered that the traditional wine-production methods used in these regions ensured that the vital ingredients and beneficial compounds could be effectively extracted from the grapes. This is why the traditional lines are better for your health than the wines that use newer production methods.

 

Other types of wine were tested, too, but it was found conclusively that red wine had the most potent polyphenols. In some red wines, around one gram per litre of wine was actually detected!

 

At the same time, the researchers found that resveratrol, found in alcohol, is not the miracle ingredient it has previously been thought to be, especially when contrasted with polyphenols.

Categories: aging, anti aging, methods, nbsp, production, production methods, Red, Red Wine, Wine, wines

How to Ensure That You Get a Good Night’s Sleep at Last

Do you lie awake at night, tossing and turning and unable to drift off? If so, you are not alone. Many thousands of people every year list ‘inability to sleep’ as one of their biggest health concerns. Not being able to sleep well can affect your wellbeing in every other area of life, and can also start to take its toll on your wellness, as your immune system can start to suffer.

 

Unfortunately, there is not one clear-cut secret to getting a good night’s sleep. What works for one person may not work for the next. All that we can offer is a selection of the best tips that we have collated from various sleep experts, in the hope that one of these will work for you and have you drifting off tonight.

 

Firstly, most experts highlight the need to prioritise sleeping the way that you would any other important health-enhancing habit (like eating well or exercising). You must prioritise sleep, build it into your day and schedule it.

 

You must follow a consistent sleep routine, in order to help your body understand the cues that you are about to go to sleep. Try to go to bed around about the same time every night, following a regular routine of brushing your teeth or any other nighttime rituals.

 

Contrary to how you may feel if you struggle to sleep at night, most experts recommend that you get up in the morning at a consistent time, and do not lie in. If you ‘catch up on sleep’ in the morning, you are merely creating the same problem over again for yourself the next night. Setting clear boundaries between ‘sleeping time’ and ‘waking time’ is vital, to help your body understand what it is meant to be doing, and when.

Categories: methods, secrets, sleep

Which Weight Loss Methods Really Help You Shed Pounds?

There are certain myths floating around about weight loss that simply aren’t true, and some that are doubtful, but the problem is there are just so darn many of them that just knowing where to begin can take its toll on your mental wellbeing. However, there are four rock-solid proven facts that really work to drop weight, and knowing the truth can improve your weight loss results in no time.

Firstly, as with all aspects of wellness, genetics is important but DNA is not destiny. Pamela Peeke, MD, notes in her book, The Hunger Fix, that there’s a new science out there called epigenetics, in which ‘genetics may load the gun, but environment and lifestyle habits pull the trigger.’ This means that no matter what your genetic inheritance might be, your lifestyle and behaviours can dampen down bad genes and strengthen good genes. In short, you can change your weight loss destiny. With every thought you think, every mouthful of food, and every step you take, you can take control and actually help create a more positive destiny.

Next, it’s an established fact that exercise is crucial for weight maintenance. You absolutely have to add more physical activity to your daily living if you want to lose weight, as science has proven, and the same is true if you actually want to keep it off! You might be tempted, like so many people, to become active, successfully shed pounds, and then sit on your laurels, but the truth is that what helped you achieve your weight loss goal is vital if you want to maintain it as well.

Also, it’s true that weight loss surgery can be effective in the long-term for certain individuals. However, it is only recommended that you have weight loss or bariatric surgery if you are extremely overweight or obese and find it difficult to lose weight naturally. There is also evidence that shows if your bariatric surgery is to be successful, you need a strong ongoing medical support system, as well as the same kind of personal support.

Finally, though there’s a wide spectrum of options available for weight loss, and some might work for you and not for others, generally, weight loss is greater with programmes that provide meals, and some prescription drugs. There will be more drug innovations emerging in the coming years as researchers learn more about how your brain and body functions in weight control and your doctor will review what will be appropriate and possible for you. In terms of meal plans, ones that involve fresh whole foods are the key to weight loss wellness, as your goal should be to eat nutritious and healthy foods when at all possible.

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Which Weight Loss Methods Really Help You Shed Pounds?

Categories: Advice, methods, Weight Loss