Posts Tagged ‘ANA’

HealthOneLabs.com – we are processing your orders!

Posted on: April 6th, 2020

HealthOneLabs.com uses Quest Diagnostics’ patient service centers to obtain your lab specimen. We provide the form (physician order) you need to get your blood tests and then you will visit a patient service center located near your home. We are processing all orders and all the Quest Patient Service Centers are OPEN. Quest Diagnostic patient service centers do not collect COVID-19 specimens. Additional precautions are taking place at each location:

Providing gloves to patients as requested
Disinfecting all surfaces more frequently
Washing hands more frequently
Enhanced COVID-19 safety training for employees
employees wear protective clothing & masks

Lab services for high-risk patients

If you are 60 years of age or older, or have other conditions that put you at greater risk for COVID‑19 come to your nearby Quest location during the first hour of each day for VIP access through their new Peace of Mind program.

Patients may schedule an appointment or walk in without an appointment. Please be sure to place your order first at www.HealthOneLabs.com so we can provide the form that you need for service.

Where to go for COVID-19 testing

Patients who suspect they have COVID-19 should contact their doctor or an authorized healthcare provider for guidance on where to get tested. Please do not go to a Quest patient service center—they do not collect COVID-19 test specimens.

Stay safe during these uncertain times!

Antinuclear Antibodies (ANA) Blood Test

Posted on: December 20th, 2016

When exposed to a pathogen, your body’s immune system creates antibodies in order to fight the infection. However, a specific kind of antibody, antinuclear antibodies, actually do damage to your body because they attack your tissues, targeting cells’ nucleus.

An ANA blood test can determine the amount of antinuclear antibodies in your blood. A positive ANA result may indicate that your immune system has a misdirected attack to your tissue, which doesn’t necessarily mean you have a disease or are unhealthy. A few reasons why you might have to get an ANA test is to see if you have

Lupus,
rheumatoid arthritis,
Other auto-immune diseases

Obtaining an ANA test can be helpful because it may rule out some diseases. If ANA results are positive, it may prompt your physician to conduct additional blood tests to determine which specific type of antinuclear antibodies are present to determine if you have a certain disease. Some blood tests require special preparations such as fasting, but the ANA does not. You may want to let your physician know the medications you take because certain drugs can compromise the accuracy of the blood test.

Remember that a positive ANA result doesn’t necessarily mean you are unhealthy:

women 65 years or older tend to have positive ANA and are also perfectly healthy.
Some chronic infectious diseases have been associated with antinuclear bodies such as mononucleosis.
There are some medications that may trigger the creation of antinuclear antibodies like blood pressure lowering medication and some anti seizure medication.

As you can see there are a number of things that may cause antinuclear antibodies to be formed in your body. The ANA test may be one piece of information your physician needs in order to figure out why you are showing the symptoms that you are.

Fighting Inflammation with Food!

Posted on: August 10th, 2016

Body inflammation is caused when the body senses a stimuli such as an injury or infection. Prolonged inflammation can damage many things in the body like tissue, joints, and organs. What many people don’t know is that there are many foods that can help decrease inflammation. For example; foods that are high in fiber, whole grains, good fats and omega-3s.

Fiber

Fiber helps to reduce inflammation because it helps to balance sugar levels, thus decreasing inflammation. High levels of sugar in your blood triggers inflammation, and inflammation increases your sugar levels; it is a vicious cycle. Fiber also lowers cholesterol, and prevents small blood clots. It is recommended that women 50 or older get at least 21 grams of fiber a day and men over 50 get at least 30 grams a day. There are many foods rich in fiber like beans, dark green vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole fruits and whole grains.

Whole Grains

Whole grains are imperative when attempting to reduce inflammation because they are high in fiber. Whole grains help increase HDL cholesterol levels and decrease LDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood pressure. It is advised to consume 16 grams of whole grains a day but it is important to make sure you are buying whole grains as opposed to multigrain. Some examples of whole grains are brown rice, oatmeal, and barley.

Good Fats

Unsaturated fats are crucial for “good” health because not only do they reduce inflammation but they also lower your cholesterol and give you a steady heartbeat. About 30% of your daily calorie intake can come from these unsaturated fats. There are 2 types, Monounsaturated fats and Polyunsaturated fats. These can be found in nuts, seeds, fish, and certain oils such as olive or sunflower oil.

Omega-3s

Finally, Omega-3 fatty acids help with many things, one of them being reducing inflammation in the body. The 3 types of Omega-3s are Eicosapentaenoic acid(EPA), docosahexaenoic acid(DHA), and alpha-linolenic acid(ALA). EPA and DHA primarily come from fish and ALA can come from vegetable oils, walnuts, and leafy vegetables. Once digested, the body turns ALA into DHA and EPA. You should get Omega-3s from cold-water fish like salmon, herring, sardines, and tuna. It is important to eat fish at least twice a week to make sure you are getting these Omega-3s.

Some discount blood tests that can assist with diagnosing inflammation:

Or order our Inflammation test panel for an economical way to get all the tests above plus additional screening tests to help determine if you have inflammation.

Take care of your health!