BIOCHEM 3H03 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Fecal Occult Blood, Gallstone, Gastric Acid
Document Summary
Branch of medicine that provides laboratory results, interpretation and consultation. Examines the chemical content of biological fluids. Guide for decision making and management of patients. Diagnosis: establish underlying reason for the signs, symptoms, and complaints. Monitoring: follow course of condition; monitor blood concentrations of drugs. Screening: look for condition in absence of signs/symptoms; detection of sub-clinical disease: population screening- newborn screening programs, screening based on risk (i. e. screening for colon cancer using fecal occult blood testing) Prognosis: establish risk and potential timeline for future event: lipid measurement to establish cardiovascular risk. Samples used: blood, urine, csf; stool, amniotic fluid, gastric juice, gall stone, kidney stone, saliva, tissue specimen choice depends on analyte to be measured, biological considerations and ease of collection. Blood analysis: testing can be done on whole blood, serum or plasma; choice depends on: Analyte to be measured: most analytes found in serum or plasma; hematology tests use whole blood.