The Magic of Blood Test – What Doctors are Looking for in Your Results

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There are literally thousands of tests that can be done on your blood work to determine things about your health and physical condition.

Physicians regularly ask you to obtain  blood tests. If you have reached the stage of life where you get an annual physical exam you will always be asked to get a blood test. There are literally thousands of tests that can be done on your blood work to determine things about your health and physical condition. Each doctor determines a basic panel for their patients depending on the type of physician they are and the kind of medical interventions they specialize in.

For consideration of hormone replacement, there are fifteen blood tests (individual tests and  panels) that are run on your blood by Dr. Maupin’s office at BioBalance Health. As a new or returning patient you will have to obtain these tests at least once a year. If there are additional concerns regarding changes in your health they will be obtained more often.

Doctor Maupin has five purposes in asking for the tests she requires:

  1. To determine if you are a candidate for Testosterone replacement, by having a low level of free testosterone.
  2. To find any other deficient hormones (besides testosterone) that commonly decline with age and which need to be replaced for optimum health.
  3. To determine a baseline for all your hormones based on the snapshot of your current condition revealed by the blood tests.
  4. To evaluate your general health.
  5. To determine if you are already subject to, or at risk from, diseases that are impacted by lowered Testosterone.

Hormone levels in your body are constantly changing, and the levels listed on your lab sheet may be listed as normal, but they are not necessarily the optimal or healthy levels we seek when replacing hormones and attempt to achieve ideal health for our patients.

For hormones that decrease with age, the optimal levels (desired best results) are the levels of 20-40 year olds, not the “normal” for men/women your current chronological age. (your age cohort). These are GH (IGF-1), Testosterone, and Estradiol. When deciding whether a woman needs testosterone I look at her morning free testosterone level, and compare it to that of a young healthy woman (>7ng/dl -30 ng/dl).  If a woman’s free testosterone is lower than normal young women then I treat her with testosterone pellets.

Please be aware of the meaning of the blood tests your doctor is ordering, and be sure that you understand the terminology they use, i.e. “healthy”, “normal”,  “optimal”, etc.

This Health cast was written and presented by Dr. Kathy Maupin, M.D., Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Expert and Author, with Brett Newcomb, MA., LPC., Family Counselor, Presenter and Author. www.BioBalanceHealth.com.  

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