Importance Of Cholesterol Screening Tests

A person’s health is greatly affected by the cholesterol level. Higher blood cholesterol puts a person at risk for coronary heart disease or stroke. Multiple cases of strokes are reported annually in the Glen Oaks area alone. So it is recommended to be aware of your cholesterol levels. For this purpose, you need to go for appropriate screening.

What is the cholesterol screening process?

• High density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglycerides and low density lipoprotein (LDL) can be measured during a cholesterol screening in any clinic in the Glen Oaks area.  A blood sample is evaluated at the same time when other tests included in the procedure are being conducted. Usually the samples are taken at the same time and your blood sample is examined in a lab.

• It is advised by the doctors to avoid consuming food, medicines or beverages for nine to twelve hours prior to the blood test. The parameters being examined can be affected by the consumption of food, which may lead to inaccurate results.

• Cholesterol levels are measured in milligrams per deciliter of blood (mg/dL). Doctors interpret the numbers based on other risk factors like blood pressure, family history and smoking.

How often you should get your cholesterol checked?

• In case you have been diagnosed with a heart condition and are above 20 years of age, then it is recommended that you get your cholesterol levels examined every once in awhile.

• You can have your cholesterol tested more often to mitigate other risk factors. Your doctor can give apt solutions based on your reports.

It is best to get yourself tested under the supervision of a primary doctor. Once you know the results, your doctor can suggest required treatment and an effective prevention plan, as well as follow-up testing.

In case you are going to public screening to get your cholesterol tested, make sure it is conducted by a reputed company. Cholesterol levels are integral in your overall cardiovascular profile. Timely detection of high levels can be controlled and further risks can be mitigated through a preventive action plan.

Understanding Glaucoma - The Eye Disorder

Glaucoma is an eye-disorder, which often causes blindness, if not prevented beforehand. Glaucoma can damage the eye’s optic nerve and deteriorate vision over time. This is associated with abnormally high pressure inside the eye.

Causes of glaucoma

According to theories, glaucoma might be due to abnormal eye development, eye infection, drugs, or no supply of blood to the eye. However, the exact reasons behind optic nerve damage are still not certain.

Symptoms of glaucoma

Gradual loss of vision is a major symptom of glaucoma. A few other symptoms that might also cause glaucoma include-

• Severe headache
• Sudden loss of eyesight
• Nausea and vomiting
• Flashes of light
• Redness of eye
• Severe eye or eyebrow pain
• Hazy or Blurred vision
• Appearance of rainbow colored circles around bright lights

Risk factors of glaucoma

As signs and symptoms are not easily apparent, it is difficult to know if anyone is suffering from glaucoma. Following are a few possible risk factors about which one should be aware-

• Age – People around the age of 40s or 60s and above are at a risk of glaucoma.

• Family history – This is a genetic problem. If anyone in a family is suffering from glaucoma, then it is possible that other members in the family may also develop this disorder.

• Medical conditions – Medical problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart diseases are also the reasons behind glaucoma. People suffering from these health issues are prone to the glaucoma problem.

• Long-term medication use – Intake or use of medicines such as eye drops for a longer duration of time can also cause glaucoma.

• Other risk factors – Besides the above mentioned risk factors, a few other risk factors that can cause this problem include-
• Contraceptive medications
• Nearsightedness
• Sleep disorders
• Migraine

Diagnosis process

Medically there is no cure for glaucoma eye disease. The only way to prevent is regular examination of eyes. Eye specialists recommend people to go for regular eye tests in every three to four months.

Glaucoma tests include following medical testing procedures-

• Tonometry - Examining the inner eye pressure
• Ophthalmoscopy - Examining the shape and color of the optic nerve
• Perimetry -Examining the complete field of vision
• Gonioscopy –Examining the angle in the eye where the iris meets the cornea
• Pachymetry –Examining the thickness of the cornea

Should Blood Tests Be Included In Your Annual Checkup?

Like many people, you should schedule a yearly checkup with your doctor. It usually involves discussing your health history and some routine questions. You can also get various tests done such as a urine test, EKG, blood test etc.

Annual blood tests are necessary for aging adults to catch possible health concerns as early as possible and prevent any life threatening diseases or illness.

Your doctor will determine whether you are at risk falling prey to a disease, so that they can take appropriate measures to counter it.

In NYC annual checkup is practised by almost everyone and complete attention is given to annual physical blood test by NYC doctors. 

Blood tests reveal the glucose level, blood count, cholesterol etc of a person. The results of these tests help doctors determine whether a patient may have anemia and whether the red blood cell count is adequate, decreased or increased.

Doctors will check the white blood cell count and platelet count, which will indicate any infection in the body. Low platelet count can also be a reason for increased bruising. There are many other essential blood tests that should be carried out periodically to ensure that you are in perfect health.

Following is a list of some essential blood tests everyone should have at least once a year:

1) CBC: Common blood count(CBC) is a baseline for key factors such as Red blood cells, white blood cells and platelets.

2) Radar: Blood tests like these help determine the sugar core of the body and for checking whether you are diabetic or not. You will have to fast before the glucose test for better results.

3) Cholesterol test : This will keep an eye on fats and harmful cholesterol levels in the body.

4) CRP in your blood: If there is an elevated level of C-reactive protein in your blood then there is a risk of inflammation. The inflammation may lead to cardiovascular diseases. If your CRP as well as Cholesterol is high then you are at a risk of having a heart attack.

5) Thyroid test: Thyroid when left untreated can lead to life threatening illness. Hence timely tests are essential in this case.

Top qualities to look for while choosing a primary care physician

A primary care physician or PCP is a health care professional who takes care of the people with some common medical problems. Usually, a PCP works as a doctor but he may also be appointed as a physician assistant or a nurse practitioner. As the primary care physician is responsible for taking complete care of the individual’s health, so it becomes very important to select one with whom you will work well.

Choosing a primary care physician in Mt Sinai or any other place where you reside is not an easy task. As it the matter of your health, so make sure you choose the best physician keeping all aspects in mind. 

 

However, if you are looking for a primary care physician, here are some of the essential traits the physician you choose must possess-

• Non judgmental-It is very important for you to feel comfortable while taking to your doctor so that you can talk about your illness or health issue in detail without any hesitation. Therefore, the doctor needs to non-judgmental so that the patient can clearly explain his health history even about topics like alcoholism, drug addiction or cigarette smoking. Revealing all your health related information to the doctor in detail is very important so that the doctor is able to provide you with proper diagnosis, medications, as well as treatment plan.
• Active listener- Besides being non-judgmental, the physician you choose should be able to listen to your problems carefully and understand them. For example, the doctor prescribed you a particular medicine three times a day and for some specific reason it does not fit your lifestyle or does not suit you. So in this case the doctor should listen to your problem and should prescribe you with some alternative option that works well with you.
• Coordinator of your care- Your primary care physician should manage with your medical care history. This means he should calmly coordinate with any doctor that is involved in your health plan and make sure that your are regular with each specialist.

However, choosing a good physician completely depends on your own efforts and ways. You can consult newspapers or you can ask for references from family or friends. Whatever way you follow, just make sure to choose the best among all.

Medical Associates
5499 Nesconset Hwy
Mt Sinai, NY 11766
Phone: (631) 928-2600, (631) 928-9355

Type of medical tests that help in diagnosing illness

People undergo medical tests in order to determine health problem or illness. Wide range of comprehensive medical laboratory tests are carried out at health care centers. Few of them are discussed below-

Annual physical tests-This comprise of tests like blood pressure, heart rate, weight, temperature and respiration rate in order to determine whether the person is suffering from mild or acute fever. However, not specifically done for testing fever, but these tests are also done for determining other health issues.

Glaucoma Screening-People with eye problem is said to be suffering from Glaucoma. It produces no symptom, which gradually result in loss of vision. Medical test that helps in determining this health issue is Glaucoma Screening. Under this test procedure, visual testing, pachymetry, ophthalmoscopy, gonioscopy and optic nerve imaging tests are conducted.

Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) - When problems with memory like thinking ability, judgment, attention, and remembering ability starts hampering, the person is said to be suffering from Mild cognitive impairment. This problem can further lead to risk of Alzheimer's disease. For diagnosing this issue, patient require going for MCI.

Cardiology testing- There are four tests included in it that are as follows Echocardiograms, Electrocardiograms, Holters & Sudo Scans and Carotid & Leg Dopplers. Each test differs in evaluation of the results. For example, Echocardiograms and Carotid & Leg Dopplers use sound waves to evaluate results, while Electrocardiograms use electrical impulses.

Cardiovascular system test- For testing the circulation of blood in body and heart cardiovascular testing is performed. This test comprise of following- routine treadmill stress testing, stress echocardiograms, adenosine cardiolite, lexiscancardiolite, dobutamine stress echocardiograms, dobutaminecardiolite, cardiolite treadmill, echocardiograms, carotid ultrasound and more.

Respiratory system testing-To measure the functioning of lung, respiratory system testing is performed. During the testing process, values that helps in measuring pulmonary function is Tidal volume (VT), Vital capacity (VC), Total lung capacity, Forced expiratory flow (FEF), Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) and Minute volume (MV).

Nervous system testing-For diagnosing problem in nervous system, neurological tests are conducted for evaluating disorders. This test include computerized tomography (CT), electroencephalogram (EEG), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), electromyogram (EMG) and cerebral spinal fluid analysis (spinal tap).

Contact Us: 

Medical Associates
5499 Nesconset Hwy
Mt Sinai, NY 11766
Phone: (631) 928-2600, (631) 928-9355

All you need to know about Mild Cognitive Impairment Treatment

Mild cognitive impairment or known to be dementia is a condition in which brain looses to function due to cause of certain diseases. Some of them are non-reversible and one cannot stop the disease from spreading.

Some of the mild cognitive impairment treatment  NYC includes Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, multiple sclerosis, and certain infections such as Lyme and HIV disease. 

 

Other types of mild cognitive impairment other than the above ones may reverse if discovered earlier. The arise of reversible one comes from brain tumors, blood sugar level change, lower B12 levels, medication use and many other.

The chance of Dementia is usually more in older individuals or rarely in people below 60 yrs. The main symptoms include problems like language and memory issues, observation issues, emotional or behavioral issues and decrease in taking judgment and thinking.

Its occurrence is seen when one suffers from memory loss or poor memory. Initially, the person will see certain changes like forgetting recent happenings or conversations. Other than this, the person will fail to do many tasks at a time and will find problem in solving certain issues.

In the later stage when the person’s case worsens, he /she will not only start to forget recent happening but will also tend to forget his/her own life history. In addition, you will fail to understand words spoken by them, as they will use incorrect words. Other signs include failing to read as well as write showing self-destructive behaviors.

In worse cases, it is even observed that people stop understanding the language, identify members of the family or perform basic daily chores that they use to perform earlier during the day like eating, getting ready, and bathing.

However, if you or anyone in your known suffers from such ailments then it is advisable to take them to a physician and consult them before it is too late. The doctor will perform series of tests in order to determine what the cause of cognitive impairment is and will try to find out if there is any cure to it or if it can be reversed.

If in case the dementia can be reversed then sooner the doctor would advise the person to seek medical treatment so that they are able to repeal the damage.

There are assortments of treatments available for this disease but it all depends upon its cause.

What are the various reasons for which blood tests are performed?

Blood test is an important laboratory analysis that is performed to detect different medical issues. The different blood tests are performed to identify the existence of various ailments of the body. The different tests also help in determining the pathogens in the body.

Blood draw service is basically performed for following reasons- 

 

• To detect any health problem- Whenever a person is suffering from bad health, he/she goes to the doctor. In most of the cases, the doctor before starting the diagnosis takes the patient’s blood sample to check it. The different blood tests are performed to detect any type of health issue. It is always advisable to have regular blood tests to detect risk factors and symptoms to prevent serious complications such as high level of cholesterol, heart attack or stroke or different cardiovascular diseases.
• To detect the main cause of sickness- Blood tests are commonly performed to detect the main cause of patient’s sickness. For example- the glucose test is performed to identify the blood glucose level in a patient’s body.

The doctors prescribe blood tests only if they notice that an individual is suffering for certain kind of disease.

• To detect any blood related problem- These tests are also performed to get information about the different body fluids in the body. It includes red blood cell counts, white blood cell counts, hemoglobin level, and platelets level in the body. Moreover, with the help of blood tests, one can also determine the blood group or type. Some of the tests also help to detect different types of disorders such as leukemia and anemia.
• To detect some existing problem- Doctors prescribe different blood tests on a regular basis to be sure about the patient’s health. Through regular tests, it becomes easy for the doctors to prescribe the necessary medications accordingly.

Doctors usually prescribe blood tests if they find anything that you need to worry about. Apart from the aforementioned reasons, these tests are performed to detect possibility of any infection in the body. Illness such as diabetes and those related to thyroid glands can also be looked at. Sometimes there are abnormalities that are caused from the lack of excess of chemicals, hormones etc that can be revealed through blood tests.

What are annual physical exams and how do you prepare for it?

Did you know that even if you have no present symptoms of health issues, you might still have some underlying medical conditions? Yes, it could be something serious like high blood pressure or something minor that could lead to serious medical condition. Therefore, it becomes vital to understand the importance of annual physical exams. Yes, it is one of the finest ways to prevent many health issues and promote good overall health.

What are annual physicals?

Annual physicals are the exams that are performed once every year to ensure good overall health of the patient. These exams include thorough checkups of an individual’s physical, mental, and emotional health. Health experts recommend these tests to promote healthy living by identify underlying diseases and prevent further loss. Therefore, to undergo these tests, you do not necessarily need to feel sick.

How to prepare?

Firstly, you need to speak with your family to gather information about their health history. Yes, your physician may ask you numerous questions associated with you and your family’s medical history. You also need to provide information about any over-the-counter or prescribed medications that you might be taking. You can consult your doctor whether you need to fast for few hours for any of your annual physical blood test. You need to be honest with your doctor in answering questions whether it is about your mental health, sexual activity, smoking, or drinking habits of yours.

What will be checked?

Even though annual physicals may vary from doctor to doctor, but it can include the following-

• Checkup of vital signs like blood pressure, heart rate, etc
• Checkup of the cardiovascular system
• Full checkup of major organs
• Diet and lifestyle habits
• Blood tests to check cholesterol, glucose levels, etc
• Tests of vision
• Checkup for HIV
• Vaccination status for certain diseases

At the end, we can say that you should schedule your annual physical without any delays, as it is all about your health and wellbeing. Remember, your ultimate goal behind undergoing these tests is to ensure that there are no existing diseases and if there are any, they should be treated immediately.