The Importance of Routine Blood Work: A Guide to Prioritizing Your Health

When it comes to a standard health checkup with a doctor or nurse, one of the key things that they’ll assess is your blood via a simple blood test or finger prick. Now, it’s fair to assume that if you’re like most people, the idea of having someone take your blood can make you feel uneasy or dizzy. This is a very understandable reaction; however, routine blood work is vital for monitoring your health and keeping an eye on potentially dangerous conditions. So, here, we’ll walk you through why you need to say yes to the blood test!

Complete Blood Cell Count

Your blood shows a lot about your health, and nowhere is this more evident than the blood cell count itself. The healthy ranges are 4.7–6.1 million cells per microliter for men and 4.2–5.4 million cells per microliter for women. Indeed, when it comes to looking at what are signs of leukemia, anemia, and thalassemia (some nice rhyming going on here,) it’s an issue with a complete blood cell count test. 

Blood Sugar

Next is the blood sugar count. This is a vital test for people who may be at a higher risk of developing type 1 and type 2 diabetes, as well being just a good way to monitor diet and health in general. 

A blood sugar test measures the amount of glucose in the blood, which fluctuates if you have an underlying issue, such as diabetes. This test is usually carried out after fasting, which (for someone who’s healthy) will have a result of between 4.0–5.4 mmol/L. But don’t worry, you don’t need to know all of the finer details; it’s just a nice piece of information to have.

Cholesterol

Low cholesterol is important for heart health and can be looked at using a routine blood test. This can be done by taking blood from your arm or even a finger prick test. It assesses four areas: total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), and triglycerides (TGs). If there are any issues or irregularities in your cholesterol levels, your healthcare provider will discuss the best ways to manage these and reduce them effectively.

Vitamin Deficiencies

A lot of people have vitamin deficiencies without even being aware of it. In 2023, 20% of adults, or 1 in 5 people, were classed as having a vitamin B12 deficiency, which can have a significant impact on overall mood and neurological functioning. A simple blood test can highlight vitamin deficiencies and will help you and your doctor to strategize the best way to reverse the deficiency.

Hormones

Lastly, routine blood work can detect abnormalities across a range of hormones, which may or may not have any outward symptoms. Typically, your doctor or health care provider will be looking at thyroid hormones, estrogen, testosterone, and cortisol levels (the stress hormone). 

If there are any irregularities, follow-up tests will be needed to assess the cause, which can be linked to life stage (such as menopause in women,) medications, stress, depression, or even a benign or malignant growth.