Bloodwork - What to test for

[ScorpioChiq]

Hey Guys,

I head up an integrative medicine clinic and we recommend these tests for all our patients in order to assess and treat hormonal issues. The following tests should be completed by your doctor for optimal health. Fast 12 hours for the test and try to get it done early morning ie. 8am for assessing cortisol levels. Hope it helps!

For general health:

Ferritin
Folate
Copper
Zinc
TSH,
Free T3
Free T4
Thyroid antibodies
Vitamin B12
Electrolytes
CBC
25-OH vitamin D
AST, ALT, GGT
Uric acid
Bilirubin

For heart health, stroke risk and diabetes risk assessment:
Glucose, triglycerides, insulin, cholesterol panel (HDL, LDL), Hs-CRP (essential for measuring inflammation in the arteries), fasting Homocysteine (costs 60 dollars but worth doing as it is a risk for heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease), Hb-a1c

For hormonal Health:
DHEAs, cortisol, free testosterone, IGF-1

Women pre-menopausal:
Test progesterone and estradiol levels on day 19-21 of your menstrual cycle.

[gicantor]

Good info right there.

[ironwill]

How about creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen levels??

[ScorpioChiq]

How about creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen levels??

You can test BUN:creatinine ratio, however for most bodybuilders their creatinine levels are elevated from muscle breakdown and somewhat from high protein intake. The more muscle you have, the the higher the creatine levels an thefore the higher the levels of creatinine. Also, when you ingest large amounts of beef or other meats that have high creatine you can increase creatinine as well. (Since creatinine is used to measure the functioning of the kidneys this is also why creatine as a supplements has been inaccurately accused of causing kidney damage). And if you are dehydrated BUN levels will rise.

If you are doing a full panel, you add it in to get a picture of kidney stress but the picture won't be accurate. Chances are you will have a higher ratio and this is nothing to worry about (unless of course you have reduced urine flow etc). A more common test would be for uric acid levels (gout) and a simple urinanalysis.

SC

[Mr Ontario]

What clinic is this and what are the fee for the above?

[ironwill]

You can test BUN:creatinine ratio, however for most bodybuilders their creatinine levels are elevated from muscle breakdown and somewhat from high protein intake. The more muscle you have, the the higher the creatine levels an thefore the higher the levels of creatinine. Also, when you ingest large amounts of beef or other meats that have high creatine you can increase creatinine as well. (Since creatinine is used to measure the functioning of the kidneys this is also why creatine as a supplements has been inaccurately accused of causing kidney damage). And if you are dehydrated BUN levels will rise.

If you are doing a full panel, you add it in to get a picture of kidney stress but the picture won't be accurate. Chances are you will have a higher ratio and this is nothing to worry about (unless of course you have reduced urine flow etc). A more common test would be for uric acid levels (gout) and a simple urinanalysis.

SC

Thank-you much appreciated....I hope you stick around......:a+

[#8]

I dont see FSH or LSH in there. Am I missing them?

[ScorpioChiq]

I dont see FSH or LSH in there. Am I missing them?

The above are blood tests for general health recommendations - we add in both of those to test fertility conditions or PCOS. It's not about testing everything under the sun otherwise you can keep adding things forever - test according to your condition or goal. For most people I find the most important tests on here are the 2 hour post prandial glucose tolerance test, fasting glucose/insulin and thyroid panel. Many are walking around with a level of insulin resistance.

[ScorpioChiq]

And ...for men, FSH and LH are somewhat like precursors to testosterone. If your testosterone levels are normal, then generally these are normal as well. For women it's a different story because it can reflect infertility or PCOS etc.

[lv 426]

You don't test for estradiol in men?

What test would you use? I've read our test in Canada isn't the right one for men. "Sensitive estradiol" is one required

Any thoughts?

Paul

[ScorpioChiq]

You don't test for estradiol in men?

What test would you use? I've read our test in Canada isn't the right one for men. "Sensitive estradiol" is one required

Any thoughts?

Paul


Hey Paul,

Estrogen dominance isn't just exclusive to women. However, for men we judge more by symptoms - excessive breast tissue and being overweight lends itself to too much estrogen. Men who carry extra belly fat in general tend to convert a lot more testosterone to estrogen. An enzyme called aromatase causes testosterone to be changed into estradiol. Aromatase lives in the fat cell so men who carry extra belly fat tend to have more cortisol and consequently make more estradiol. As if that wasn't bad enough, cortisol increases the activity of the aromatase enzyme, so high cortisol levels can also lead more testosterone to be converted into estradiol. Also, if your testosterone is low than you ratio between estrog/test is thrown off.

For these men we add in an estrogen detox (including DIM, Indole 3 Carbinol, liver detox and adjustments in nutrition) and stress reduction/adrenal supplements are also valuable. We had one client that was 368lbs - we put him on an estrogen detox, a diet (keto actually!) and testosterone cream and he was literally a whole knew man. He has dropped down to 298lbs (still going), got off pain meds, got off anti depressants and has reduced his sleeping meds by 70%!

Hope that helps

SC