It feels like we just started 2024 and yet we’re already close to the halfway point. In all the business of planning summer events/trips or just the next few months, I would ask that you also look at the last time you had your regular blood work done.
Yearly blood work helps us doctors to monitor your health. Not only in that moment but also by comparing your levels to where they were last year, for example, and to the year before. Were you “low normal” and now this year you are “high normal?” Because a seemingly small change might be the start of something else going on in your body. This yearly blood work can be, to me, the foundation of our health and should be looked at in the bigger context of you as an entire person over time.
Some routine blood work labs that I believe should be run yearly are:
Complete blood count (CBC)
Comprehensive metabolic profile (CMP)
Lipid/cholesterol panel
Iron
Vitamin D 25-hydroxy
TSH, Free T4, Free T3 (or total T3)
These labs can help us figure out if more specific lab work should then be evaluated. Some further examples would be hemoglobin A1C, B12, sex hormones, adrenals, etc. If you have not had recent blood work then it might be time to make an appointment with your PCP through insurance or with myself. In the latter, without usually using insurance, there are cost effective ways that these labs, and more, can be done.
Medicine has changed and we, as doctors, don’t always have the time to reach out to each patient about their yearly blood work. To make this easier to remember, I recommend that you do it in your birthday month, so yearly as a birthday gift to yourself. If you need help with this feel free to contact me to help plan your 2024 blood work.
Have a great Summer, and I hope to hear from you soon!
- Dr. Anita M. Larrow, ND