The Good and the Bad About Cholesterol

It’s lunchtime and you’re faced with two choices. The first option is a juicy burger and French fries. The second option is a nutritious-looking salad, piled high with colorful veggies. Our mind says one thing, but our stomach and impulse control are tempted to act on the other. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 1 out of 3 American adults has high cholesterol, putting them at risk for heart disease and stroke. There aren’t any signs or symptoms with high cholesterol. The only way to know if you have it is to get tested… and that’s where your local Any Lab Test Now® can help.

The Good and the Bad

First off, let’s understand some cholesterol basics. There are two types of cholesterol.

  1. Dietary cholesterol is the type that you have some control over! It comes from the things we eat, like a hamburger and fries (high!) vs. a salad (low).
  2. Cholesterol is also produced by your body. Your liver uses it to help you digest food and make certain hormones. Genetics can play a role in this, as do age and gender.

Cholesterol travels through your bloodstream on proteins called “lipoproteins.” This is where the good and the bad part comes into play.

  • LDL – LOW-DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN – this is the type of cholesterol that will raise your risk for heart disease and stroke, and it makes up most of the cholesterol in your body. It’s what is sometimes called “bad” cholesterol.
  • HDL – HIGH-DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN – this type of lipoprotein absorbs cholesterol and carries it back to the liver where it’s filtered out of the body. High levels of HDL can actually lower your risk of heart disease and stroke, which is why it’s sometimes called “good” cholesterol.

When your body has too much of the “bad” cholesterol, it can build up along the walls of your blood vessels, blocking the flow of blood, leading to heart attacks and strokes. There are steps you can take to make things better, but you have to know where you stand!

Take Control of Your Health

You don’t have to wait for the worst to happen. You can take control of your health now, and you can start with a simple blood test. Your local Any Lab Test Now offers the basic Lipid Panel which can provide you and your doctor with a wealth of information about your risks. The Lipid Panel will provide you with the following information:

  • LDL Level
  • HDL Level
  • Total Cholesterol
  • HDL/LDL Ratio
  • Triglyceride Level

The Lipid Panel is a great way to establish a baseline reading, so doctors can watch for any increases or decreases as time goes by. Based on that information, you and your doctor may find it beneficial to start (or stop) cholesterol-lowering medications. The Lipid Panel is a simple blood test, but we recommend that you fast at least eight hours before your specimen collection.

More to Consider

If you and your physician decide that cholesterol-lowering medications are the way to go, then he or she might recommend that you take the Cholesterol Medication Maintenance Panel. This panel includes the Lipid Panel, so you can check the medications’ effectiveness. And, because some of the cholesterol-lowering medicines can have an effect on the liver, it also includes the Liver Function Panel.

Eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of exercise is key to optimal health, but don’t forget that knowledge plays an important role as well. Stop by your local Any Lab Test Now location and see where you stand.

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!

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:

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.

 

Cholesterol Testing: What’s Your Number?

 

Cholesterol plaque in artery

If you suffer from high cholesterol, or have a family history of high cholesterol, you know first-hand that numbers are important. Monitoring your cholesterol numbers can mean the difference between life and death — as high cholesterol increases your risk for heart disease, stroke and other dangerous health conditions. As you may already know, a total cholesterol level of 200 mg/dL or below is considered ideal, while a number above 200 mg/dL may be cause for concern.

 

Types of Cholesterol

To get the full picture of your cholesterol health, there are several numbers you need to know. Total cholesterol measures the total amount of cholesterol in your blood, including LDL and HDL. In general, the lower your total cholesterol number is, the better.

LDL, which stands for low-density lipoprotein, is “bad” cholesterol. Too much LDL can cause buildup and blockages in the arteries, which can slow or even stop blood flow throughout the body. An LDL level of less than 100 mg/dL is best for optimal health.

HDL, which stands for high-density lipoprotein, is “good” cholesterol. This type of cholesterol actually helps remove cholesterol from your arteries, preventing buildup and blockages. In general, the higher your HDL level, the better, and any number over 60 mg/dL is considered healthy.

Know Your Number

Getting tested regularly is an important part of maintaining your cholesterol levels, especially if you struggle with high cholesterol or suffer from conditions relating to high cholesterol, such as diabetes or heart disease. Cigarette smoking, a poor diet, obesity, diabetes, a lack of exercise and a family history are all factors that can raise your risk of having high cholesterol and the dangerous health conditions that can develop as a result. If you are unsure of your cholesterol levels, think you may be at risk of high cholesterol, or if you are already taking medication to treat high cholesterol, it is important to get tested. Knowing your cholesterol numbers could save your life because it helps identify worrisome changes and prompts you to make lifestyle adjustments to protect your health.

Cholesterol Testing

There are several options for getting your cholesterol tested at Any Lab Test Now.

The Cholesterol Medication Maintenance Panel is ideal for patients who are already taking medication for high cholesterol, or for those needing their cholesterol and liver function tested on a regular basis. It is also perfect for those interested in knowing their cholesterol level, providing patients and their doctors with the information they need to make certain health decisions.

The Lipid Panel is an excellent option for those concerned about their cholesterol levels as well as their heart health. And for those interested in a more comprehensive look at their health, the Basic Check-Up Panel, Comprehensive Male Panel and Comprehensive Female Panel are all options that include cholesterol testing.

Talk with your physician and the experts at Any Lab Test Now to learn which cholesterol testing options are right for you.

Have you checked your numbers lately? Knowing your numbers is important, especially when it comes to your health. Take control of your health by scheduling an appointment to get your cholesterol tested today, and start feeling healthier tomorrow.

Cheers to Men’s Health Month!

Women often joke that getting a man to go to a doctor is almost as difficult as getting him to ask for directions when he’s lost. In both situations, men tough it out until they feel better or gotten where they are going, even if it took twice as long as it needed to. When it comes to their health, that stereotype isn’t always wrong. According to the CDC, women are 100 percent more likely than men to visit the doctor for annual exams and preventative services.

To help address this, June is Men’s Health Month. It’s a good time to take a look at some of the risks you may not even realize you’re taking. There are some simple things you can do to be healthier. Any Lab Test Now can help you see places you need to make changes, and you can do it without even needing a doctor’s appointment.

Heart Disease

Heart Disease is the leading cause of death in men. Many of the risk factors for it are things that we can control. If you smoke, drink too much, eat a diet high in saturated fat (think: cheeseburgers and fries), lead a sedentary lifestyle and are overweight, you can change those things. Hey, no one said it would be easy! Stress can also be an important factor in heart disease.

Your cholesterol numbers are also a factor. Cholesterol is fat produced by your liver. You also get it from the foods you eat. Low levels of HDL (sometimes called “good cholesterol”) and high levels of LDL (sometimes called “bad cholesterol”) are the opposite of what you’re after. Any Lab Test Now has a Lipid Panel available that screens for HDL, LDL, the ratio of the two as well as your triglyceride levels. The result will let you and your doctor see if your cholesterol levels need attention.

Diabetes

Your chances of having a heart attack are also greater if you have diabetes. Diabetes is easy to ignore because at first you feel just fine. But the disease affects other organs: your heart, blood vessels, nerves, eyes and kidneys. Left unchecked, the long-term complications can be disabling or even life-threatening. In addition to heart disease, diabetes can cause blood vessel damage, kidney damage, eye damage, foot damage, hearing loss, and possibly increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

The symptoms develop slowly — often a person has type 2 diabetes and doesn’t know it. Symptoms include: increased thirst and frequent urination, increased hunger, weight loss despite eating more, and fatigue. If you think you might have diabetes, or if you have diabetes and want to get a check on your blood levels, you can use the Diabetes Maintenance Panel at Any Lab Test Now.

Underlying Causes

Heart disease and diabetes aren’t embarrassing to talk about. But two men’s health issues that can lead to both of those can be uncomfortable to discuss —  prostates and testosterone. After you hit the age of 40, your prostate starts to grow. The symptoms you notice are a slower urinary stream or the sudden urge to go. But an enlarged prostate is also linked to metabolic diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Another issue men face as they age is a drop in testosterone. The symptoms are a decreased sex drive, erectile difficulty, mood changes and even memory problems. Low testosterone increases the risk of developing diabetes and hypertension. You can find out what your levels are with a simple testosterone test from Any Lab Test Now.

Men, it’s time to take control of your health and well-being! The first step in leading a healthier lifestyle is knowing what changes you need to make. Along with your local Any Lab Test Now, it’s easy to find out what areas you and your doctor can focus on as you make a roadmap to follow for better health.

Stay Heart Healthy This February!

Walk into any retail location and you’ll see red, pink and purple hearts of all shapes and sizes. February is the month of love, and the heart represents this feeling for many people. Did you know, however, that February is also Heart Health Awareness Month?

This year, celebrate your heart by making healthy lifestyle changes and taking action to prevent chronic conditions like heart disease. Heart disease kills more American adults than any other cause of death, including cancer, accidents and diabetes. For this year’s Heart Health Awareness Month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention want Americans to focus on one healthy behavior they can make into a habit to take control of their heart health.

After all, your heart health influences your daily life and everything you want to do. From how often you get sick to how much activity your body can handle, a healthy heart makes your whole body run right. Symptoms of heart disease can be unique for everyone, but will often include fatigue, shortness of breath, angina or pain in the chest, nausea and swelling of feet or ankles (also known as edema). Your heart never rests — and your heart health influences your quality of life even when you’re asleep, so it’s critical that it remains healthy.

Heart disease can be difficult to detect on its own, which is why it’s so important to use laboratory testing and regular visits to your primary care physician to keep yourself on track. To find out what your risk is and begin your journey to a healthier heart, you should schedule a Cardiac Risk Panel at Any Lab Test Now this month. Getting a laboratory test entails a simple, one-time visit that will allow you to see your levels of blood cholesterol, C-reactive protein and homocysteine. These levels are an indication of how hard your heart is working and how much inflammation is in your body. Any Lab Test Now also offers a variety of other heart health related tests to consider, like cholesterol testing.

Once you have your results, you can take them to your doctor to discuss your lifestyle and how you can improve your habits, one step at a time. Suggestions may include dietary changes, increasing the consistency with which you take prescription drugs, increased exercise or quitting smoking.

Your cardiovascular system is important for your quality of life, so make February the month you take charge of your habits and make an improvement in your health. For more information on how to use Any Lab Test Now’s laboratory testing to determine your risk, visit our website!

The Top 5 Things To Avoid This Holiday Season

What do you do when your food won’t treat you right? From causing digestive problems or headaches to giving you long-term health concerns, sometimes the simple act of eating what we love can make us feel horrible. And while there are about 40 foods that are known to cause reactions for people, the five on this list are the most notorious trouble-makers. If you don’t feel so hot after consuming some of these foods, you might want to avoid them over the holidays. And if you’re not sure what food is making you feel ill, visit your local Any Lab Test Now for an ALCAT test that will pinpoint your food sensitivity!

Dairy

Dairy foods are notoriously hard to process. According to Medline Plus, a division of the U.S. National Library of Medicine, about 30 million Americans have some degree of lactose intolerance by the time they reach age 20. The most common symptoms of lactose intolerance are gas, bloating, diarrhea and cramping, beginning within 30 minutes of consuming dairy. You can work around lactose intolerance by consuming different types of dairy products, by consuming them in smaller amounts or by consuming products made with soy or nut milks. You can also use supplements of the enzyme lactase to help you digest dairy more easily. The ALCAT panel offered by Any Lab Test Now can help you pinpoint whether your digestive distress is caused by lactose intolerance.

Food additives

Food additives can be any substance, natural or man-made, that brings about a certain change to taste, texture or nutritional content. These can include vitamins and minerals, flavorings, colors, preservatives and chemicals that change the acidity or texture of foods. The adverse effects of food additives can be as varied as the additives themselves. Eight additives are responsible for most adverse reactions: sulfites, parabens, nitrates, BHT and benzoates, which are preservatives; monosodium glutamate (MSG) and aspartame, which are flavor enhancers; and tartrazine, a yellow dye. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, some symptoms of adverse reactions can be hives, difficulty breathing, digestive troubles and nausea.

High saturated fat

Foods that are high in saturated fat can contribute to high cholesterol and heart disease. High cholesterol is a gradual, chronic condition that makes your heart work a lot harder to pump blood throughout your body, but doesn’t present very many noticeable symptoms at first. But foods with high saturated fat contents can also cause some immediate digestive distress if you’re sensitive to it. Inflammation is a likely result of eating too many foods high in saturated fat, because they irritate your stomach as you digest them. You can experience heartburn, coughing and even shortness of breath after eating these foods. Foods like butter, fatty meat products, lard and full-fat dairy products, and foods made with any of those products, are all foods you might be sensitive to. In addition to the ALCAT panel, which will let you know if these foods irritate your digestive system, the lipid panel or Lipoprotein Particle Profile at Any Lab Test Now can show you your risk of high cholesterol and heart disease.

Wheat

A growing number of people are being diagnosed with wheat sensitivity or celiac disease. Celiac disease is a relatively recent discovery in the field of digestive health, and many who have struggled their whole lives with confusing symptoms are finally getting the answers they’ve sought. According to Beyond Celiac, while about 3 million Americans suffer from celiac disease, it is estimated that six times that amount have some form of gluten sensitivity. Gluten sensitivity involves an immune response a few hours or days after eating gluten and the symptoms can include confusion, joint pain, numbness of the arms, legs or fingers, and headache.

Red Wine

Some people have reactions when they drink alcohol that go beyond the typical symptoms of drunkenness. Experiencing anything from trouble breathing to flushing and headaches, people with a sensitivity to alcohol do not enjoy a night of drinking as much as some others might. The sensitivity could be brought on by the alcohol, or by a specific drink, like red wine. Additionally, the alcohol could simply be triggering a food sensitivity, rather than causing the reaction itself. The only way to know for sure is to get tested!

The holidays are a time for fun, family and of course, lots and lots of food. This holiday season, don’t let your food sensitivities make mealtimes a pain. Visit your local Any Lab Test Now for a lipid panel and ALCAT food panel to find out what foods don’t sit right with your body!

Using Athletic Testing to Monitor Your Progress

Athletic TestingWhether you’re a seasoned athlete or just starting your journey to fitness, you know that the more information you have about your performance, the easier it will be to build your diet and activity to yield maximum results. The superficial information is easy enough to get — it’s obvious when there are changes in your energy levels and appearance. But to know how your lifestyle is impacting your body’s internal systems, you need more thorough testing. At Any Lab Test Now, we have a series of tests that will help you determine where your body is starting from before you begin your fitness regimen, and ongoing testing to help you see what changes are going on under the surface as you train. Here are some ways Any Lab Test Now can help you in your athletic endeavors.

There are myriad tests you should undergo if you are starting a new fitness program, especially if you haven’t exercising regularly and are looking to make a dramatic change. In addition to giving you a full picture of the impact your current lifestyle is having on your body, comprehensive athletic testing can reveal underlying health issues that might make exercising or changing your diet challenging or risky. For example, if you have heart trouble that hasn’t been addressed, strenuous exercise can cause a heart attack. You should also get detailed information on your dietary intake by testing for nutrient deficiencies. This will help you build a targeted and detailed diet plan to meet your body’s needs.

You should continue testing to monitor your progress over time. Exercise and proper diet are known to lead to a reduction in risk factors for cardiovascular problems and metabolic disorders like diabetes, so continued testing should show a decrease in those panels. The micronutrient panel should show improvements, as should the hormone test, indicating that your body’s systems are functioning better. Another reason to continue testing is to help you make course corrections during your training. By helping you catch problems while they’re still relatively minor, these tests can save you time and discomfort, and help you keep your training on track.

This might sound complicated, but at Any Lab Test Now, we make it easy to keep track of what’s going on inside your body. So don’t stay in the dark about your health! If it’s worth going to the trouble of starting a fitness program, it’s worth knowing what would serve you best in your efforts. So find your local Any Lab Test Now to take a peek at your body’s inner workings with athletic testing!

The Importance of Cholesterol Testing

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Is your heart healthy? You may think the answer is “yes”, but do you really know? If you are an American male with an average American diet and lifestyle, the odds are not in your favor. In fact, the CDC says that 73.5 million adults (31.7%) in the United States have high LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol. And of those people, fewer than 1 out of every 3 adults (29.5%) has the condition under control.

You might be thinking, “So what? Who cares if my cholesterol is a little high?” YOU should care, and here’s why:

1. It can kill you. People with high total cholesterol have approximately twice the risk for heart disease as people with ideal cholesterol levels. Additionally, lowering your cholesterol can reduce your risk of having a heart attack, needing heart bypass surgery or angioplasty, and dying of heart disease.

2. Even if it doesn’t kill you, it can lessen your quality of life. You’ll suffer countless possible health problems, including chest pain, circulatory problems, digestive problems and gallstones.

So what is cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a fatty substance that travels through your blood on lipoproteins and is necessary for important bodily functions such as making hormones and digesting fats. Everyone needs cholesterol, but certain factors like poor diet can cause a person to have too much of it, and this can be a very bad thing. When you have too much cholesterol in your body, or high cholesterol, it will start to build up in plaque deposits along the walls of your blood vessels. Over time, this build-up causes the blood vessels to become narrower and narrower, allowing less blood flow to reach your heart and other organs. This can cause angina or even a heart attack if an artery becomes fully blocked by plaque.

Even if you think you’re healthy, it’s a good idea to get your cholesterol checked so that you can establish a baseline for monitoring your cholesterol in the future. And if you have high cholesterol, the sooner you learn about it, the better, so that steps can be taken to lessen your risk of death from heart disease.

At Any Lab Test Now, there are several options to choose from when it comes to cholesterol testing.

Our Lipid Panel provides a comprehensive look at your cholesterol levels, including testing for your total cholesterol, HDL, LDL, HDL/LDL ratio and triglycerides. The Lipid Panel is a great option for establishing a baseline from which to continuously monitor your cholesterol levels.
href=”https://www.anylabtestnow.com/tests/cholesterol-maintenance-panel/”>The Cholesterol Medication Maintenance Panel and Basic Check-Up Panel are also excellent testing options for measuring your cholesterol levels. Talk to our experts at Any Lab Test Now to learn which cholesterol testing is right for you.

Top Five Diseases That Affect Women’s Health

ALTN May corp(1)As women race through their days, many don’t stop to focus on their own health and well-being. For this reason, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office on Women’s Health has designated May 8-14 as Women’s Health Week. This marks the 17th time the week has been recognized in an effort to encourage women to take ownership of their health.

While women’s health concerns may change as they age, five of the top health concerns faced by women include:

Heart disease. Heart disease accounts for more than 22 percent of female deaths according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There are multiple contributing factors to heart disease: high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. Exercise and other healthy lifestyle choices can help reduce your risk of heart disease.

Cancer. The Susan G. Komen foundation shares that one in eight women who lives to the age of 85 is at risk for breast cancer. Fortunately, with early detection, survival rates can be quite high. To protect themselves, women regularly should be completing self-breast exams, scheduling routine mammograms and seeking testing to see if they have any markers that could signify malignant tumors in any area of the body.

Chronic Lower Respiratory Diseases. This is often more recognizable as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and includes both emphysema and chronic bronchitis. While pollutants and chemical toxins may contribute to the development of these diseases, smokers get COPD nearly 12 times as frequently as non-smokers.

Stroke. Strokes are caused by blood clots that prevent blood from reaching the brain. According to Harvard Medical School, high blood pressure is the No. 1 risk factor for developing blood clots. Be sure to have your blood pressure checked regularly, especially if you are a smoker or using oral contraception. In addition, having a healthy lifestyle, which includes not smoking, can help reduce the chance of developing a blood clot.

Alzheimer’s disease.  According to the Alzheimer’s Association, women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Age, family history and heredity are the most common risk factors. While there is still much to learn about the disease, scientists are looking at the impact of exercise, diet and brain-engaging activities as potential ways to help keep the disease at bay.

So, ladies, celebrate Women’s Health Week by becoming more informed about the state of your own health, working with a doctor to address any issues and making lifestyle changes that will help you live your healthiest life yet!