Have you ever gone to your doctor for a problem and the doctor does labs but still cannot find anything “wrong”?
Doctors order bloodwork for several reasons, as blood tests provide valuable information about a patient's overall health, help diagnose medical conditions, and monitor the effectiveness of treatments. By evaluating different components of the blood, such as red and white blood cells, platelets, and biochemical markers, doctors can assess organ function, detect infections, identify nutritional deficiencies, evaluate hormone levels, and detect autoimmune disorders. They can help identify risk factors for certain diseases, such as cholesterol levels to assess cardiovascular health, blood glucose levels for diabetes screening, and cancer markers for early detection of certain cancers. Bloodwork can also provide insights into disease progression, medication effectiveness, and potential complications.
But what happens if you go to the doctor to get testing done and the tests don’t provide any answers?
How Does My Doctor Decide What Tests To Order For Me?
When deciding what tests to order for a patient, your doctor will review your medical history, including any existing medical conditions, previous diagnoses, surgeries, and treatments. Your reported symptoms and complaints play a significant role in test selection. Doctors also assess vital signs, observe physical appearances, and perform specific examinations based on your symptoms. These findings guide them in determining which tests may be necessary for further evaluation. They consider the most likely causes and order tests that can confirm or exclude these possibilities. Doctors often refer to evidence-based guidelines and recommendations to provide standardized approaches for diagnostic testing based on the best available evidence. Doctors also consider the cost-effectiveness of the tests. This last piece also often involves the consideration of utilization guidelines for individual insurance companies in terms of what your plan may cover or not cover. Insurance companies also have medical policy guidelines as to what tests they consider to be medically necessary. This means that even if after the careful consideration of your physician for a certain test that the test may not be ordered for you based on the medical policy guidelines of your insurance plan.
So as you can see even though it is only you and your doctor inside the exam room that there are also other people in the room as well—insurance companies, utilization managers and the reality of the costs of laboratory tests.
So How Do I Know If The Right Tests Were Ordered For Me?
Determining whether the right tests have been ordered for your condition can be challenging without proper medical expertise. If you have concerns about the tests being ordered or if you're unsure why a particular test is necessary,
Don't hesitate to ask your doctor. Request clarification about the purpose of the test, how it relates to your symptoms or condition, and what information it will provide. This open communication can help you better understand the rationale behind the test selection.
If you have doubts or want additional reassurance, you can consider seeking a second opinion from another qualified healthcare professional.
Educate yourself about your condition and the typical diagnostic tests associated with it.
What Is The Best Way To Educate Myself About What Labs I Should Think About Asking For?
Well the cheapest way would really be to spend hours on the Internet doing your own research. Don’t have the time? Well you could also consider going to medical school as well but that might take you even longer! You could also consider going directly to your health care provider to have a discussion about what labs you should consider. But have you tried getting your doctor to spend an extensive amount of time with you lately?
So in absence of the reality of the above options I have created a foundational educational program called Functional Labs 101. This course was developed to help educate on commonly ordered traditional labs that are used for assessment from a functional perspective. It is my hope that this information will educate you, the student, on tests that are commonly ordered in a functional medicine or integrative evaluation.
The true purpose of this course is to educate you on the common components of functional and integrative lab testing so that you may have an educated conversation with your provider.
In each section we will review commonly checked labs for 5 different root functional heath systems including:
Gut Health
Metabolic Health
Inflammation
Hormonal Health
Thyroid Health
What if I have already had labs done?
If you have already had labs done and
you want to understand them from a functional perspective
your provider is telling you your results are normal but you don’t feel normal
the way you feel and your labwork doesn’t match up
then you may want to look into uploading your labs for a Functional Lens Report.