The LiveScanLabs provides the 10 most important blood tests , which are an essential part of yearly screening to maintain optimal  health and prevent life treating health problems before they occur.

     Annual blood testing is the most important step aging adults can take to prevent Life-threating disease. With blood test results in hand, you can catch critical changes in your body before they manifest as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, or worse. Having the proper blood tests can empower you to enact a science-based disease-prevention program that could add decades of healthy life.

     Sadly, but most annual medical check-up involve the physician ordering only routine blood tests. Far too often, this blood work does not even test for important markers of disease risk. The consequences of failing to analyze blood for proven markers of disease risk are needless disability and death. Blood test have benefits that go far beyond disease prevention. For instance, by monitoring levels of sex hormones, you can take decisive steps to enhance your quality of life, perhaps by correcting a depressive mental state, creative dysfunction, abdominal obesity, or improving your memory and energy levels.

     At least once a year monitoring of these blood tests can drastically improve your quality of life:

* Chemistry Panel/Complete blood Count/Lipid Panel,

* Fibrinogen,

* Hemoglobin A1c,

* DHEA

* PSA (for men)

* Homocysteine

* C-Reactive Protein

* Thyroid Stimulation Hormone

* Free Testosterone and Estradiol

     ChemistryPanel/CBC/Lipid Panel this is a Low – cost panel will give you and your physician a quick snapshot of your overall health. This is comprehensive panels to assess your vascular, liver, kidney, and blood cell status. The CBC measures the number, variety, percentage concentration, and quality of platelets, red blood cells, and white cells, and this is useful in screening infections, anemias an other hematological abnormalities.

The Chemistry Panel provides information on the status of your cardiovascular system by testing for total cholesterol, HDL ( hight density lipoprotein), LDL ( low density lipoprotein), triglycerides, and the total cholesterol/HDL ratio.   The Chemistry Panel also measures blood glucose, which is critically important for detecting early-stage metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and coronary artery disease. Also, Chemistry Panel is an assessment of critical minerals such as calcium, potassium, and iron.

     Fibrinogen is an important contributor to blood clotting, fibrinogen levels increase in response to tissue inflammation. Since the development of atherosclerosis and heart disease are essentially inflammatory processes, increased fibrinogen levels can help predict the risk of heart disease, stroke, and rheumatoid arthritis, and glomerulonephritis (inflammation of the kidney).

     In a recently published study from University of Hong Kong Medical Center, researches identified increased levels of fibrinogen in an blood as an independent risk factor for mortality in a patient with peripheral arterial disease, and riskier venous thrombosis blood clotting), and presence of higher fibrinogen levels associates with presence of multiple coronary lesions in patients who had suffered an acute myocardial infraction.

     A combination of lifestyle and behavioral changes-such as quitting smoking, losing weight, and becoming more physically active-may help to lower fibrinogen levels to optimize fibrinogen levels.

Hemoglobin A1c is one of the best ways to assess your glucose status is testing for hemoglobin A1c9HbA1c). This test measures a person’s blood sugar control over the last two  to three months and is an independent predictor of heart disease risk in persons with or without diabetes. Maintaining healthy hemoglobin A1c levels may also help patients with diabetes to prevent some of the complications of the disease.

     The American Diabetes Association recommends testing HbA1c every three to six months to monitor blood sugar levels in insulin-treated patients, in patients who are changing therapy, and in patients with elevated blood glucose levels. Since HbA1c is not subject to the some fluctuations that normally occur with daily glucose monitoring, it represents a more accurate picture of blood sugar control.

     Nutrition therapies may help to optimize hemoglobin A1c levels.

     Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA0, a hormone produced by the adrenal glands, is a precursor to the sex hormones estrogen and testosterone. Blood levels of DHEA peak in one’s twenties and then decline dramatically with age. DHEA frequently referred to as an “anti-aging” hormone. Healthy levels of DHEA may support immune function, bone density, libido, and healthy body composition.

Elevated levels of DHEA may indicate congenital adrenal hyperplasia, a group of disorders that result from impaired ability of the adrenal glands to produce glucocorticoids.

     In the recent study published in the National Institute of Mental Health, and Journal of Investigative Dermatology demonstrated that DHEA significantly improved midline-onset major and minor depression in men and women aged 45-65 years old, and optimal range of DHEA accelerate wound healing, such as venous ulcers, and in the elderly population.

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) is a protein manufactured by prostate gland in men. Elevated levels may suggest an enlarged prostate inflammation, or prostatic cancer. PSA levels may also be used to monitor the efficiency of therapeutic regimens for prostate conditions.

Elevated levels of PSA may not be necessarily signal prostate cancer, and prostate cancer may not always be accompanied by expression of PSA. Levels can be elevated in the presence of a urinary tract infection or an inflamed prostate.

     The American Cancer Society recommends annual PSA testing for men beginning at age 50. Men who are at hight risk should begin PSA testing at age 40-45. PSA levels increase with age, even in the absence of prostate abnormalities.

     A healthy Mediterranean-type diet may offer protection against prostate cancer and other diseases associated with aging. Natural therapies may also help support prostate health.

The amino acid homocysteine is formed in the body during the metabolism of methionine.  Hight homocysteine levels have been associated with increase risk of heart attack, bone fracture, and poor cognitive function. Incremental increased risk for coronary artery disease. Homocysteine has also become recognized as an independent risk factor for bone fractures. Investigators in the Netherlands concluded that high homocysteine levels and low vitamins B12 concentrations were significantly associated with an increased risk for bone fracture, and to be an important and independent risk factor for osteoporotic fractures, including hip fractures, and found association between elevated homocysteine levels and age-related macular degeneration.

 Natural therapies may hell to optimize homocysteine levels. You may wish to discuss with your doctor the use of vitamin B12, B6, folic acid, and trimethylglycine.

     Increasingly, medical science is discovering that inflammation within the body can lead to a range of life-treating degenerative diseases such as coronary heart disease, diabetes, macular degeneration, and cognitive decline. By measuring your body’s level of inflammation through regular C-reactive protein testing, you can devise a strategy of diet, exercise, and supplementation to half many of these conditions.

     C-reactive protein (CRP) is a sensitive marker of systemic inflammation that has emerged as a powerful predictor of coronary heart disease and other diseases of the cardiovascular system. The highly sensitive cardiac CPR test measures C-reactive protein in the blood at very early stages of vascular diseases, allowing for appropriate intervention with diet, supplements, or anti-inflammatory therapy. The cardiac CPR test detects much smaller levels of inflammation than the basis CRP test, so is therefore able to identify at-risk patients earlier, even among apparently healthy persons.

A review of epidemiological data found that hight-sensitivity cardiac CRP was able to predict risk of incident myocardial infraction, stroke, peripheral arterial disease, and sudden cardiac death among healthy individuals with no history of cardiovascular disease, as well as predict recurrent events and death in patients with acute or stable coronary syndromes. This inflammatory marker provided prognostic information that was independent of other measured of risk such as cholesterol level, metabolic syndrome, and high blood pressure.Investigators concluded that greater level of cardiac CRP are associated with higher cardiovascular risk. According to research, these data support the role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of type II diabetes, and progression of age-related macular degeneration, rheumatoid arthritis, major depression in men.

     Natural therapies may help to optimize hight-sensitivity CRP levels.

     Thyroid Stimulation Hormone (TSH) is a hormone secretion in the thyroid. When blood levels fall below normal, this indicates hyperthyroidism (increased thyroid activity, also called thyrotoxicosis), and when values are above normal, this suggests hypothyroidism (low thyroid activity). Overt hyper- or hypothyroidism is generally easy to diagnose, but subclinical disease can be more elusive.

Because the symptoms of thyroid imbalance may be nonspecific or absent and may progress slowly, and since many doctors do not routinely screen for thyroid function, people with mild hyper- or hypothyroidism can go undiagnosed for some time. Undiagnosed mild disease can progress to clinical disease states. This is a dangerous scenario, since people with hypothyroidism and elevated serum cholesterol and LDL have an increased risk of atherosclerosis.

Mild hyperthyroidism may be associated with reversible hight blood cholesterol and cognitive dysfunction, as well as such nonspecific symptoms as fatigue, depression, cold intolerance, dry skin, constipation, and weight gain.

Mild hyperthyroidism is often associated with arterial fibrillation, reduce bone mineral density, and nonspecific symptoms such as fatigue, weight loss, heart intolerance, nervousness, insomnia, muscle weakness, shortness of breath, and heart palpitations.

     The American Thyroid Association recommends screening for TSH levels beginning at age 35, and every 5 years thereafter.

     Natural therapies may help to optimize TSH level, and support thyroid health.

     Testosterone is produced in the testes in men, in the ovaries in women, and in the adrenal glands of both men and women. Men and women alike can be dramatically affected by the decline in tester one levels that occurs with aging. Testosterone plays different roles in men and women, including the regulation of fertility, libido, and muscle mass. In men, free testosterone levels may be used to evaluate whether sufficient bioactive testosterone is available to protect against abdominal obesity, mental depression, osteoporosis, and heart diseases. In women, low levels of testosterone have been associated with decreased libido and well-being, while high levels of free testosterone may indicate hirsuitism ( a condition of excessive hair growth on the face and chest) or polycystic ovarian syndrome. Increased testosterone in women may also indicate low estrogen levels. In men, testosterone levels normally decline with age. This drop in testosterone is partially responsible for  the significant physiological changes seen in aging men. In fact, low testosterone levels are associated with numerous adverse health conditions, including diminished libido, metabolic syndrome, executive dysfunction, loss of muscle tone, increased abdominal fat, low bone density, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, type II diabetes, and atherosclerosis.

     Optimal testosterone levels may support healthy mood, libido, body composition, and cardiovascular wellness. You may wish to discuss with your doctor the use of supplements such as DHEA and pregnenolone. Speak to physician to determine whether prescription testosterone may also helpful for you.

     Estradiol is a like testosterone, both men and women need estrogen for numerous physiological functions. Estradiol is the primary circulating form of estrogen in men and women, and is an indicator of hypothalamic and pituitary function. Men produce estradiol in much smaller amounts than do women; most estradiol is produced from testosterone and adrenal steroid  hormones, and a fraction is produced directly by the tests. In women, estradiol vary through the menstrual cycle, and drop too low but constant levels after menopause.

In women, blood estradiol levels help to evaluate menopausal status and sexual maturity. Increased levels in women may indicate an increased risk for breast or endometrial cancer. Estradiol plays a role to supporting healthy bone density in men and women.

      According a recently published report from the University of Michigan School of public health, lower estradiol levels in women associated with higher levels of markers of cardiovascular disease risk.

      Optimal estradiol levels may support health, bone density, and well-being. You may wish to discuss with your doctor the use of supplements such as DHEA, pregnenolone, soy, black cohosh, and pomegranate.  Speak to your physician to determine whether prescription therapies such as biogenetical estrogens may be helpful for you.

     Yearly blood testing is a simple yet powerful strategy to help you proactively take change of your current and future health. A well-chosen complement of blood tests can throughly assess your overall state of health, and as well as detect the silence warning signals that precede the development of serious diseases such as diabetes and heart disease.