Dr James Fleckenstein: 4 Laboratory Services You Should Know About

Maintaining our health can sometimes be overlooked especially when we’re too busy with our lives. Many of us usually neglect to go to laboratory checkups because they are time-consuming and costly. However, we need to understand that we should always prioritize our health and visit the doctor regularly.

A renowned professor of radiology Dr James Fleckenstein always reminded his clients that it is important to go for a full body checkup at least once or twice a year to ensure that you don’t have any diseases or illnesses affecting your body health. There are numerous laboratory tests that you can do whenever you go for a full body checkup.

Here are some of the most important laboratory checkups that you should do whenever you can.

X-Ray

X-radiation tests are one of the most common laboratory checkups that are done by people every time they visit the doctor. X-rays use invisible high-energy electromagnetic energy beams of radiation to produce digital images of your internal tissues, bones, and organs.

If you’ve previously had respiratory-related illnesses or diseases, you’ve probably tried getting an x-ray test before. Consider getting an x-ray if you need your doctor to check your lungs for any complications or your other body parts for bone irregularities.

CT Scan

Computed Tomography, or CT scans, is mostly used to determine the cause of a stroke or assess serious head injuries. Frequent headaches, blood clots, possible cancer cells, or tumours are also discovered through CT scans.

Getting regularly checked through this type of laboratory testing helps prevent serious illnesses before severe symptoms surface and affect your health. Consider adding CT scans to your regular checkup routines to include the examination of possible serious complications within your body.

Ultrasound

Ultrasonography uses high-frequency sound waves to make an image of a person’s internal structures. The most common use of ultrasound is to check for a child’s health in pregnant women. Just because pregnant women are most likely to get an ultrasound during their pregnancy, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t also get one to check for your health.

For men and non-pregnant individuals, ultrasound is good to check for disorders within your digestive system. These include potential kidney stones, gallstones, fattening of the liver, etc. Consider getting an ultrasound in your regular checkup routine to check for your digestive health.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

MRI is a medical imaging technique that uses strong magnetic fields, magnetic field gradients, and radio waves to generate images of the organs of the body. MRI is important for any brain-related or neurological diseases or illnesses.

Brain tumors and disorders are one of the deadliest but hardest to determine diseases because their symptoms don’t usually show until they are already deadly. To ensure that you will be able to determine the possibility of neurological disorders, be sure to get an MRI laboratory test so that you won’t reach a point wherein the symptoms have reached the point of risking your life.