Take Control of Your Nutrition in the New Year

With the new year upon us, many people have set resolutions to embark on a journey to a healthier, happier life. In fact, eating healthier is one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions each year. Unfortunately, it’s often quite difficult to follow through with those goals. According to Business Insider, 80 percent of resolutions fail by the second week of February, and only 8 percent of people successfully keep their resolutions for the entire year. The key to success is setting up realistic goals with actionable stepping stones. Instead of thinking of your new diet as a restrictive, miserable experience, view it as a lifestyle change for the better.

Eat at Home

Eating at home can be a fun (and economical) approach to hitting your weight loss goals while still getting the nutrients your body needs to thrive. By cooking your own meals, it’s easier to control your portion sizes. ABC News reports that American serving sizes have grown over the past 20 years, contributing to the obesity epidemic. Consuming smaller portions combined with a higher intake of fruits and vegetables will help you hit your wellness goals in no time – and your wallet will thank you, too!

Drink More Water

According to Harvard Medical School, drinking fluids is vital to your health for a multitude of reasons. Every system in your body, including your brain, muscles and heart, needs water to function. Fluids carry nutrients to your cells and flush bacteria from your body. Without proper hydration, your body may have trouble fully processing nutrients. Unfortunately, for many health enthusiasts, drinking enough water can be challenging! It’s recommended to drink 1 – 1.5 liters of water per day – no easy feat! Luckily, there are some techniques you can use to increase your water intake. Try setting an alarm on your phone to periodically remind you to drink water. There are also apps that can help you track how much you drink in a day. Finally, buying a new water bottle can help keep you motivated. Through proper hydration you’re likely to see an improvement in your digestion, energy and even in your skin.

Get Your Nutrition Levels Tested

Before you begin a new and improved healthy diet, it’s important to consult a healthcare professional. You should understand what exactly your body needs and adjust your diet from there. Nutrition tests are a great option for learning more about your body. They can provide you with your current nutrient levels so you can better develop a proper meal plan that will set you up for long-term success. Even if you are eating generally well, you may still be missing out on important vitamins, minerals and nutrients. By adjusting your meal plans to fit your specific body’s needs, you’ll be feeling your best in no time.

The best part? You don’t need to spend hours trying to make an appointment or sitting in a waiting room to get your nutrition tested—you can stop by your local Any Lab Test Now location and be seen promptly. Any Lab Test Now offers an extensive nutritional panel called the MicroNutrient test. This test will provide a snapshot of your current nutritional status and how you can improve it in the upcoming year. To learn more about the MicroNutrient , find your local Any Lab Test Now location at AnyLabTestNow.com.

Don’t let diabetes sneak up on you

Here at Any Lab Test Now, we believe you should have the ability to take control of your health. That’s the same message being shared this November for National Diabetes Month. This year’s theme: You Are the Center of Your Diabetes Care Team. Any Lab Test Now wants to make it easy for you and your doctor to not only diagnose your diabetes, but also to treat it. That’s why we offer a wide range of options that can help you and your physician in understanding if you have the disease and make sure you are managing it properly as well.

Understanding Diabetes

Let’s start with a brief understanding of just what diabetes is. Diabetes is a group of diseases that occur when your blood glucose (also called blood sugar) is too high. That’s bad because it can begin to cause all kinds of health problems, like heart disease, nerve damage, kidney disease, even blindness. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) found that 30.3 million people in the United States have diabetes as of 2017. An even more frightening fact: Twenty-three percent of those people don’t even know they have diabetes!

Risk Factors and Symptoms

So how can Any Lab Test Now help? Well, we can help on two fronts. The first is diagnosis. There are a number of risk factors that could lead you down the path to diabetes. According to the NIH, some are related to your genetics, others to your lifestyle. They include:

Family history
Over age 45
African American, American Indian, Asian American, or Hispanic/Latino
Have high blood pressure
Have a low HDL level or high triglycerides
Are not physically active
Have a history of heart disease or stroke

Take all these risk factors into consideration as well as these symptoms as you start to ponder your own diabetes status.

Increased thirst and urination
Increased hunger
Unexplained weight loss
Fatigue
Blurred vision
Numbness or tingling in the feet or hands
Wounds that do not heal

It’s important to note that many people with type 2 diabetes have no symptoms, or they’re so mild that people don’t notice them. That’s one of the reasons it’s important to know the risk factors as well.

Take Control of Your Diabetes

At Any Lab Test Now, we offer a total of six lab tests designed to help you and your doctor diagnose and manage your diabetes.

The Diabetes Maintenance Panel includes four tests: Complete Blood Count, Glucose-Serum, Hemoglobin A1c, and a Diabetic Urinalysis. This is an effective panel for both diabetics and for those who want to see if they have diabetes.
The Diabetic Urinalysis (Microalbumin) will test for the protein albumin in your urine. It’s something that the kidneys usually filter out, so if it shows up in the results, it can alert you and your doctor to potential diabetes complications like kidney disease.
The Glucose Blood Test is the most common test used to diagnose diabetes. Additionally, diabetics self-conduct this test multiple times a day to monitor their blood glucose levels.
The Glucose Tolerance Test is a way to check how your body metabolizes sugar. Your blood will be collected then you’ll be given a cup of glucose to drink. After that, your blood will be collected again every 30 to 60 minutes. It usually takes up to three hours to complete the test and can confirm diabetes.
The Hemoglobin A1c is useful in helping diabetics determine if their disease is under control. It’s a valuable measure of the overall blood glucose levels over a period of several months. The test can also help detect pre-diabetes and diabetes.
The Insulin Lab Test can let you know if your body is producing too much or too little insulin. Too little insulin, also known as insulin resistance, is often associated with type 2 diabetes. If you have pre-diabetes, this test can be used to monitor whether diet and lifestyle changes are having a great enough impact to reverse or improve your condition.

All of these tests can provide you and your doctor with the knowledge necessary to properly treat and manage your condition. Don’t let diabetes sneak up on you. Know your risk factors and your symptoms and take control of your health through walk-in testing. Your local Any Lab Test Now location can help you do that.

Do You Know What’s Up?

Since 1995, National Health Education Week has been celebrated during the third full week of October. It is hosted by the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE), and its purpose is to increase national awareness on major public health issues while promoting a better understanding of the role of health education. This year, October 16 – 20 marks National Health Education Week.

The week’s theme celebrates “Scaling New Heights: Health educators know what’s up.” It aims to get people talking about how the role of a public health educator is changing and how modern-day public health professionals impact community health issues. From Tuesday’s Twitter discussions (Interested? Follow #NHEW at 1 PM EDT.) to Wednesday’s webinar on the importance of advocacy, the week is packed full of information and online events. Professionals are also encouraged to create and promote local events that are tied to National Health Education Week.

At Any Lab Test Now, we’re doing our part to spread the word about contemporary health issues and how health education specialists work to solve them by raising awareness on topics such as teen drug testing, increased levels of cholesterol and hormone imbalances. Like health professionals with other areas of focus, Any Lab Test Now strives daily to be a dependable and convenient resource for your health and wellness education.

We’re here to help you Take Control of Your Health®. Any Lab Test Now offers testing that will allow you to establish a health baseline through our precise lab analysis. The tests will help you uncover “what’s up” with your own health so that you can work with your doctor to feel your best each day.

We offer health solutions specifically tailored to your needs:

Women’s Health: You keep the household running on all cylinders, but are you taking care of your health? At Any Lab Test Now, we offer lab tests you need to monitor your health, including but not limited to Hormone Tests, Vitamin D Levels, Menopause Screening Panel and Hemoglobin A1c.

Men’s Health: We get it: The doctor’s office isn’t your preferred hangout spot. Any Lab Test Now takes pride in getting you in and out as efficiently as possible. Our testing includes Diabetes Screening, Testosterone Test, Micronutrient Test, Thyroid Panel and so much more.

In addition to personalized testing, Any Lab Test Now recognizes that many of our customers are faced with having no insurance or high deductibles. Our lab tests are both affordable and transparent — you know what you must pay up front instead of receiving a surprise bill later.

This October, join us in recognizing National Health Education Week by stopping in to your local laboratory testing center to discover “what’s up” with your health. It’s for the betterment of the community and the environment, as well as you and your family!

Should Men Consider PSA Testing?

In years past, there has been controversy in the medical community over the importance of PSA Testing. Critics of testing claim that it can lead to “over treating” prostate cancer. Proponents of testing point to the fact that, if detected early, prostate cancer is treatable 100 percent of the time. Which is correct? How do men evaluate if they should be tested?

How Can You Over Treat Cancer?

To make a more informed decision, it’s important to understand what is meant by over treating prostate cancer. One attribute of this type of cancer is that it is commonly slow growing. This means that it can oftentimes take many years before it ever impacts a man’s other organs. Until it does, it is unlikely that the cancer will cause any serious medical complications or discomfort.

Consider what might happen to a man who is in his late 60s, or to a man who might already be struggling with a more severe medical issue, and undergoes PSA testing. When the results come back and indicate prostate cancer, the reaction is to get rid of it. No one wants to have cancer.

However, remember that the cancer is slow growing. This means that it could take a very long time for him to experience any discomfort or reduced quality of life because of it. So, should a man that might never encounter the negative side-effects of prostate cancer because of his age or current medical state put his body and mind through the strain of treatment? Obviously, this is a personal decision to be considered after conversation with the man’s doctors and loved ones. But, this scenario is considered “over treatment.”

What About the 100 Percent Treatment Rate?

While over treatment can be a concern, there are real advantages to identifying and treating prostate cancer early. There are three stages of prostate cancer – local, regional and distant. In the local stage, cancer has not spread beyond the prostate. In the regional stage, it has spread only to areas nearby. In each of these cases, the survival rate at 5 years is nearly 100 percent.

However, by the time prostate cancer reaches the distant stage, it may be impacting the lymph nodes, bones or other organs. The survival rate at five years for those diagnosed in the distant stage drops to only 29 percent. That is why testing proponents believe PSA testing is critical once men reach age 40: It may help doctors identify prostate cancer before it reaches the distant stage.

Prostate Cancer Treatment

There are a variety of treatment options available for those who are diagnosed with prostate cancer. Which option men pursue will depend upon conversations with their doctor about the benefits and risks, as well as at which stage the prostate cancer is diagnosed. Options include surgery, radiation treatment, high-intensity focused ultrasounds or hormone therapy.

In fact, because prostate cancer is slow-growing, there are many instances when a patient may not even require immediate treatment. This method of “watchful waiting” or “active surveillance” is a very real option for some men. It means that they can have knowledge about their medical health, but not necessarily take any physically or emotionally stressful measures to resolve it unless their test results start to change.

Having this less-invasive treatment option is one of the key reasons why men should be tested. The testing establishes a PSA level baseline against which they can be monitored for years to come.

New Research on PSA Testing

Because of the mixed views regarding PSA Testing, men can sometimes feel uncertain about how to proceed. Fortunately, new research is being done to help assess whether PSA Testing is a necessary option for men. The latest research re-examined the methods used in the previously completed PSA Testing clinical trials. When researchers did this, they discovered that both trials indicated a more than 30 percent “lower risk of prostate cancer death thanks to screening.” This reaffirms the need to establish a PSA level baseline and begin monitoring prostate health earlier in a man’s life.

No one wants to learn that they have cancer of any type, but knowing means having options! So, don’t wait for the odds of getting prostate cancer to get higher with age before you get tested. Instead, stop into your local Any Lab Test Now to start establishing a PSA baseline now.

Prostate Cancer Awareness Month

One in seven. That’s how many men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetimes. It’s a frightening statistic. But here’s the flip side of those numbers. When it’s detected early, the survival rate past five years is 98 percent. If it isn’t found early? That drops to just 26 percent. The first step in that early detection is a simple blood test, and it’s available at Any Lab Test Now. Given that September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, this is the perfect time to stop procrastinating and order the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test to find out where you stand.

PSA TEST

The PSA test measures the prostate-specific antigen in the blood. The prostate makes the PSA, but if there is a tumor, the tumor also makes PSA. That brings the level up. Other factors can increase your PSA number. Those include an enlarged prostate, being older, ejaculation, an infection or inflammation, and some medicines like testosterone. Some studies have found that riding a bike may even be a factor, because the seat puts pressure on the prostate. There are also factors that can lower your PSA number, too. Herbal mixtures, obesity, a regular aspirin regimen, and thiazide diuretics — a water pill used to treat high blood pressure — can all lower your PSA number. Since the ups and downs are caused by so many external factors it’s a good idea to get a baseline reading of your PSA sometime in your 40s. Regular screenings are recommended once you hit 50 — sooner if you fall into a high-risk group. If you are African-American or have a family history of prostate cancer, those screenings should start at 45.

INCREASED RISKS

The risk of developing prostate cancer rises rapidly after age 50. African-American men are 73 percent more likely to be diagnosed than Caucasian men. Researchers can’t explain the disparity. Family history is a big factor, too. If your brother or father has had it, you are two and a half times more likely to develop prostate cancer. Your diet may be putting you at risk. Men who pile red meat and dairy on their plates increase their risk. Doctors aren’t sure if the increased risk results from those foods, or the likely lack of fruits and vegetables in the diet.

SYMPTOMS

The PSA screenings are important because, very often, men don’t experience any symptoms of prostate cancer. Signs to know are:

The need to urinate frequently, especially at night.
Difficulty starting urination, or holding it back.
Weak or interrupted flow of urine.
Painful or burning urination.
Difficulty having an erection.
Painful ejaculation.
Blood in urine or semen.
Frequent pain or stiffness in lower back, hips or upper thighs.

Prostate cancer is often slow-growing and might never cause these problems. But some forms are more likely to spread to other parts of the body — especially to the lymph nodes and bones. Knowing your PSA number and discussing what it means with your doctor can help you make the best decision about your health.

During Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, take the first easy step with a PSA test at your local Any Lab Test Now location.

Iron Deficiency

About three million of us suffer needlessly from a condition that seriously and negatively impacts our quality of life. But it doesn’t need to be that way.

The condition is called anemia. It is when your body lacks enough red blood cells to carry oxygen to your tissues. Anemia can sound frightening because it involves your blood. Yet the treatment can be as easy as changing what’s on your plate for dinner. And finding out if you are anemic can be done quickly and easily with a simple test from Any Lab Test Now! The answer to the test can help you and your doctor put you back on the path to feeling better.

Anemia Symptoms

The symptoms can often be so mild that they go unnoticed or seem like they are just “part of life.” Do any of these things sound familiar? Fatigue, weakness, pale or yellow skin, irregular heartbeat, shortness of breath, dizziness or lightheadedness, chest pain, cold hands and feet, headache, irritability — these symptoms of anemia are often dismissed or ignored. Often, the fatigue becomes overwhelming. Dr. Allen Nissenson, nephrologist and professor of medicine at UCLA, says it doesn’t have to be the norm for the millions with anemia.

Nutrition and Anemia

In order to make enough healthy red blood cells, your body needs an adequate supply of iron, folate and vitamin B-12. Of course, not everyone consumes the right quantity of these nutrients. For this reason, the most common type of anemia is caused by poor nutrition, according to Dr. Nissenson. Our increasing obsession with diets — and the growing number of strict vegetarians and vegans — is adding to the problem. That’s why the Anemia Panel from Any Lab Test Now checks not only your blood count, but also your iron, folate and vitamin B-12 levels.

Whether the anemia is iron deficiency anemia or vitamin deficiency anemia, the treatment is likely as simple as supplements and a change in diet. The best sources of iron are meat, poultry and egg yolks. To a lesser extent, you can get iron from eating green leafy vegetables, dried fruits, dried beans and peas, and enriched whole-grain cereals and bread. You need to also eat foods rich in Vitamin C, like citrus fruits, to help your body absorb the iron. The dark green leafy veggies are also your best source of folic acid. You’ll only get vitamin B-12 by eating animal foods — especially meat, fish, eggs and milk. That’s a real challenge to those following a strict vegan diet.

Who is at Risk?

Your diet isn’t the only thing that can put you at risk of an iron deficiency. You may eat all the right foods but have an intestinal disorder — like Crohn’s disease or celiac disease — that keeps you from properly absorbing the nutrients you eat. Other causes of anemia include:

Significant blood loss
Heavy menstrual periods
Possible reactions to birth control
Kidney disease

Importance of Treatment

Anemia may not sound threatening, but there can be complications if you don’t treat it. In addition to severe fatigue, anemia can cause pregnancy complications. And if left unchecked too long, it can eventually lead to heart problems because the heart needs to pump more blood to compensate for the lack of oxygen in the blood. That can ultimately lead to an enlarged heart or even heart failure.

Finding out if you have an iron deficiency takes just a few days. The professionals at your local Any Lab Test Now location can help you find out if you need to take the next step with your doctor to boost your iron and change your health for the better.

Effects of Alcohol

We toast our successes. We drown our sorrows. It’s 5 o’clock somewhere! Our world is filled with reasons to pour a drink, yet even a single drink can affect your body. And too much can have a long-lasting impact that isn’t always reversible. Fortunately, it is possible to find out if alcohol is harming your body before it’s too late by taking a simple test from Any Lab Test Now.

What alcohol does

Even one drink starts to affect your body. It changes your brain – making it harder to think clearly and making coordination challenging. Long-term, heavy drinking can cause damage to learning and memory. Abstaining over several months may allow your brain to repair itself at least partially.

Your heart can also be damaged, even in just one evening of binge drinking. Long-term drinking weakens the heart muscle, so it can’t pump enough blood to the organs. The short-term result is shortness of breath, fatigue and swollen legs and feet. The long-term result can be heart failure. Binge drinking can cause the heart to beat too rapidly or irregularly – running a risk of stroke. And women are more likely to have their blood pressure go up as a result of drinking too much than men. The Alcohol Effect Panel from Any Lab Test Now tests for damage to your heart.

In addition, heavy drinking takes a serious toll on the liver, and eventually can lead to cirrhosis of the liver. Quitting won’t reverse the damage, but it will stop it in its tracks. You can get a basic screening of your liver function with the Alcohol Effect Panel from Any Lab Test Now.

The same test will point to potential problems in the pancreas, which is also severely impacted by heavy drinking. The pancreas reacts to alcohol by producing toxic substances and that eventually leads to pancreatitis – a dangerous swelling of the blood vessels in the pancreas. The effects can be managed by not drinking.

And there’s more — alcohol can increase your risk of a list of cancers: mouth, esophagus, throat, liver and breast cancers. It also weakens your immune system. For as long as 24 hours after getting drunk, you may have trouble fighting off infections as serious as pneumonia.

How do you know how much is too much?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer, but there are guidelines. For men, you shouldn’t have more than four drinks a day or 14 drinks a week. For women, you shouldn’t have more than three drinks a day and no more than seven drinks in a week. Those amounts are considered to be low risk. But low risk is not no risk. If you drink too quickly, have health problems or are over 65, alcohol can cause problems. For some people, any amount at all is too much.

If you are worried that you – or someone you love – does drink too much, there is a way to find out. The FAEE Hair Alcohol Abuse Test available at Any Lab Test Now can determine if someone is alcohol dependent. It uses a small sample of hair and measures the amount of a metabolite of alcohol in that hair. You can use the results of the test to talk with your doctor about what steps to take next to get help.

Having the answers about alcohol – and it’s effect on your body – can be an important step in getting and staying healthy. The medical assistants at your local Any Lab Test Now are there to help you find the right test to get you on the track to taking the best care of yourself.

Hormones and Your Health

The Connection Between an Imbalance and Weight Gain

The statistics concerning adult obesity in the United States are alarming. According to the most recent data, adult obesity rates now exceed 20 percent in all states. A diet high in fat and sugar, coupled with a sedentary lifestyle, is usually to blame. But for some people, both men and women, there is no obvious reason for the additional pounds. These people are eating healthy and getting exercise, yet they still seem to be gaining weight. In that case, there is a possibility that hormones are to blame.

Hormonal Havoc

As we age, hormone levels adjust and can cause hormonal imbalances. This can lead to a number of issues including:

Weight gain
Obesity
Insulin resistance
Metabolic syndrome
Diabetes

Testing your hormone levels can help explain persistent weight problems and help you avoid the associated medical issues. The first step is to purchase the Weight Management Take Home Hormone Kit at your local Any Lab Test Now location.

Taking the First Step

The Weight Management Take Home Hormone Kit is the first step to getting answers and it can be done in the comfort of your own home. You’ll have to fast for 12 hours for the results to be accurate. It consists of a simple dried blood spot test and a saliva test. Using these, the test measures bioavailable hormone levels. The kit is wide-ranging, testing in nine critical areas:

Estradiol (E2) – this is basically a form of estrogen. It is present in both women and men.
Progesterone (Pg) and Testosterone (T) – these are hormones that are found in both men and women that help regulate gender and the associated sexual functions.
DHEA–S (DS) – helps in evaluating your adrenal gland function.
Diurnal Cortisol (Cx4) – helps determine your level of cortisol, a steroid hormone released by your adrenal gland.
Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) – checks your body’s production of TSH, which helps regulate how your body uses energy.
Vitamin D (D2, D3) – low levels of this vitamin may lead to weight gain according to some studies.
Insulin (In) – this measures your insulin production. Insulin is produced by the pancreas and used by the body to transport and convert glucose into usable energy.
Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) – checks your blood glucose levels and can detect pre-diabetes.

If you’ve experienced unusual weight gain, are struggling with obesity, or are having difficulty losing weight, the cause could be hormonal havoc.

Results Put You in Control

Test results will usually take between five to seven business days after you return your specimen to the lab. Your results will pinpoint specific hormonal imbalances that can contribute to excessive weight gain and obesity. The comprehensive report also matches your tested hormone levels with reported symptoms so you and your doctor can determine what steps to take so you can achieve optimal health. It’s time to take your health into your own hands with the help of Any Lab Test Now.

Shortage of the Sunshine Vitamin

It’s hard to imagine it, but even in the middle of summer, there are people who aren’t getting enough sunshine in their life. There could be all kinds of reasons why, but the most likely one is because they are being wise and listening to the well-placed warnings from their dermatologist about skin cancer. So, they slather on sunscreen, suit up in long sleeved shirts and pants and basically avoid the sun when possible. But some doctors are seeing an unintended consequence to this advice: vitamin D deficiency.

What is Vitamin D

According to the Vitamin D Council, D is unlike any other vitamin. Your body can make its own vitamin D when you expose your skin to sunlight. But, your body can’t make other vitamins; you have to get them from the foods you eat.

Basically, when your skin is exposed to the sun, it produces vitamin D and sends it to your liver. Your liver then changes it to a substance called 25 OH D. When your doctor talks about your vitamin D levels you’ll basically be talking about the amount of 25 OH D you have in your blood. You can also get vitamin D from supplements or even small amounts from the foods you eat.

Vitamin D at Work

Vitamin D plays a crucial role in keeping your bones strong. Your body needs it in order to absorb calcium. If you don’t have enough, your bones can become soft, thin and brittle. In children, this is called rickets. In adults, it’s known as osteomalacia. Researchers are also looking into the role that a vitamin D deficiency plays in:

Cancer
Asthma
Type 2 diabetes
High blood pressure
Depression
Alzheimer’s disease
Multiple sclerosis
Crohn’s disease
Type 1 diabetes

Are You at Risk?

A lack of sun exposure due to sunscreen use isn’t the only risk factor for a deficiency. Some people are just more inclined to it. According to the Vitamin D Council, people at risk for D deficiency include:

People with darker skin. The darker your skin the more sun exposure you need to get the same amount of vitamin D as a fair-skinned person.
People who spend a lot of time indoors during the day. For example, if you’re housebound or work nights and spend the day sleeping.
Older people, because they have thinner skin and may not be able to produce as much vitamin D as younger people.
Pregnant women and breastfed-only infants.
People who are overweight.

The symptoms of a vitamin D deficiency are so vague you might not have a clue. They can range anywhere from tiredness and general aches and pains to a pain in your bones and weakness. Some people don’t even have symptoms at all.

Testing to Know Your Levels

Testing to find out your levels of this important vitamin is as simple as going to your local Any Lab Test Now location. The test you’ll want to ask for is the Vitamin D 25-Hydroxy Test (25 OH D). It’s a simple test that requires no fasting and results generally take between 24 to 72 hours. Our experts have found that people who take the Vitamin D 25-Hydroxy Test (25 OH D) will also request one of the following relevant tests as well:

If your levels are abnormal a trip to your doctor is in order. They can talk to you about safe and sensible sun exposure and supplements. Having plenty of the “sunshine vitamin” can really be the key to feeling sunny every day!

Safety First! Any Lab Test Now Offers Lab Tests for Athletes

As an MMA fighter, boxer or other combative sports competitor or athlete, you already know that achieving peak performance means taking care of your body and health first. Vitamin deficiencies, hormone imbalances and other health problems can affect your success in the ring and even put you in danger of injury. That’s why many athletic organizations go so far as to require lab testing for their athletes — to make sure they are healthy and fit to compete and won’t be placing themselves in harm’s way.

The good news is, if you need required lab testing before your competition, you can get your results quickly and easily at Any Lab Test Now. Your local Any Lab Test Now location can provide your lab results before your next big fight or other athletic event, with no appointment or insurance necessary. You’ll have your results in 72 hours or less. We are proud to be the Lab Testing Provider for MMA and other combative sports fighters, getting fighters the results they need without the wait or the hassle.

MMA, Boxing and Other Combative Sports

The Fighter Panel at Any Lab Test Now is specially designed to meet the lab test needs of MMA fighters, boxers and other combative sports athletes. To be eligible to compete, many combative sports fighters are required to present their test results to their state athletic commission. The Fighter Panel includes tests for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. These tests will ensure your immune system is not compromised and that you are ready to fight.

While certain tests are required for competition, others are simply recommended for peak health, safety and performance in the ring, including:

Testosterone (Free and Total)
Micronutrient Test
Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH)
Cholesterol Tests, such as C-Reactive Protein and Lipoprotein (a)
Heart Health Panel
STD Tests
Pregnancy Tests for Female Fighters
And More!

Make sure you’re taking care of your health first to become the athlete you were always meant to be.

Other Athletes

If you aren’t a combative sports athlete, you may not need the same required lab testing that competitive fighting requires. However, many competitive athletes will still benefit from establishing a baseline for their health and fitness goals. Your baseline will help you improve your performance and let you know what might be going on when something doesn’t feel quite right. Common lab tests for athletes looking to monitor their overall health include:

As an athlete, your health is crucial to staying safe, fit and high-performing on the field, court or fighting ring. Stay at the top of your game by taking care of your health first. Schedule a lab test appointment online or call the experts at Any Lab Test Now to learn what testing options are right for you.