What is a Full Panel Blood Test?
Routine blood tests can not only help your doctor diagnose the root cause of physical ailments – they can also identify potential problems in the earliest stages so prompt treatment can be administered. The information gathered from a full panel blood test performed each year can be compared to previous rounds of testing to see how your health is changing over time.
If your doctor orders a full panel blood test, you may receive the following tests:
- Lipid Panel: measures HDL (good) and LDL (bad) cholesterol levels
- Basic Metabolic Panel (BMP): checks your blood for glucose, calcium, electrolytes, potassium, carbon dioxide, sodium, chloride, creatinine and blood urea nitrogen
- Complete Metabolic Panel (CMP): in addition to BMP measurements, this also includes tests to check how your liver is functioning
- Comprehensive Urinalysis: measures the content and concentration of urine to detect infections and diseases
- Thyroid Panel: checks the function of your thyroid – the gland that regulates your metabolism, growth hormones, body temperature, heart rate and hormones
- Complete Blood Count (CBC): measures the range of your white blood cells, red blood cells, platelets, hemoglobin and hematocrit
- Prothrombin Time: measures how long it takes blood to clot
You may receive your test results within 24-72 hours, depending on the test. Some tests require fasting for at least 8 hours before the test to ensure more accurate test results.
There are many other tests that can be ordered by your doctor. The results from blood work tests can help uncover health issues such as:
- Cancer
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Infection
- Diabetes
- Kidney disease
- Hormone imbalance
- Heart conditions
- Liver disease
- Sexually transmitted diseases
If you are not feeling right, the primary care doctors at Westgate Family Physicians can perform complete blood work in Spartanburg, SC, to uncover the root cause of your symptoms. We are proud to provide in-house lab services, saving our patients the time and hassles of going to an outside lab for testing. This service also allows us to provide quicker test results in some cases.
Call our primary care physicians in Spartanburg at (864) 574-0070 or click here to schedule an appointment.