Blood tests

"I received an email yesterday asking me about blood tests following my comment about pre-exercise programme blood tests.

You could do worse than follow the advice of the Life Extension Foundation who say:

"The Life Extension Foundation suggests that a basic battery of tests be performed annually. The recommended male panel consists of a complete blood count (CBC)/chemistry test, homocysteine, free testosterone, estradiol, prostate-specific antigen (PSA), and DHEA. The recommended female panel consists of the CBC/chemistry test, estradiol, progesterone, free testosterone, DHEA, and homocysteine. In addition to these special male and female panels, the following tests are especially important for men and women over age 40: fasting insulin, fibrinogen, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), and free triiodothyroxine (T3). If a serious abnormality is detected—such as elevated blood glucose (sugar), hormone imbalance, or high cholesterol—testing should be repeated more often than annually to determine the benefits of any therapy you are using to correct the potentially life-shortening abnormality..."

However, in the UK you cannot easily get homocysteine, free testosterone and DHEA tests.Instead you'll have to be satisfied with:

Cholesterol (three measurements)
Triglycerides
Blood pressure
C-reactive protein

So the best thing is to see a specialist i.e. your Doctor and ask for a full blood screening. (In the UK it is free on the NHS). But also read widely and go prepared!

Also ask yourself some questions:

• Has your doctor ever said that you have a heart condition and that you should only do exercise recommended by a doctor?
• Do you feel pain in your chest when you perform physical activity?
• In the past month, have you had chest pain when you were not performing any physical activity?
• Do you lose your balance because of dizziness or do you ever lose consciousness?
• Do you have a bone or joint problem that could be made worse by a change in your physical activity?
• Is your doctor currently prescribing any medication for your blood pressure or for a heart condition?
• Do you know of any other reason why you should not engage in physical activity?

Also ask yourself these medical questions:

• Is there a history of heart trouble in your family?
• Do you have high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, or any breathing problems?
• Do you have bone or joint difficulty?
• Do you smoke?
• Are you obese?
• Are you over the age of 45 if you are a man or 55 if you are a woman?
• Are you diabetic?
• Are you pregnant?
• Do you have a hernia or any other condition that could be made worse by lifting weights?
• Have you had surgery within a year?

Whatever the answers go and see your doctor!

There are other tests you could do - here's one from Dax.

As far as dieting goes, many visitors here are following Dax's Elimination Diet. To be totally accurate though, metabolic typing is needed - and not the one mass marketed by Woolcott etc, but this one.

Anyway, before exercise programme in addition to various external measurements, do INTERNAL measurements i.e. blood tests.

I am going for mine tomorrow!