Practically in all he alth care institutions there are special laboratories where you can take tests. This helps to conduct medical research, which is important for identifying the disease and establishing an accurate diagnosis in a patient of this institution. The medical laboratory is designed to conduct various research methods. Let's take a closer look at what types of tests can help determine the disease.
Where can a medical laboratory be located?
Polyclinics and hospitals must have such laboratories, it is in them that such studies are carried out:
- General clinical analysis.
- Hematological analysis.
- Biochemical analysis.
- Immunological analysis.
- Cytological analysis.
- Serological analysis.
- Microbiological analysis.
Separately, it is worth highlighting laboratories in consultations for women, special dispensaries, and even in sanatoriums. Such laboratories are called profile laboratories, since they work exclusively in their own way.specializations. Large medical institutions have centralized laboratories. In such places, complex equipment is installed, so all diagnostics are performed using systems that work automatically.
What types of medical laboratories are there?
There are different types of laboratory tests, the varieties of the laboratories themselves will depend on this:
- Bacteriological, most of all engaged in the study of immunity and biological diagnostics.
- Virological laboratory diagnoses diseases caused by viruses, produces viral preparations, including vaccines, immune sera.
- The parasitological laboratory conducts diagnostic studies to detect invasions, for this it uses helminthological methods.
- Cytological laboratory is studying a special material that is obtained by biopsy. Often such laboratories are located in oncology clinics.
- A separate place is occupied by a forensic clinical laboratory. At this point, researchers manage to draw conclusions about the biological evidence. In such laboratories, a whole range of measures is applied.
- The pathoanatomical laboratory is engaged in establishing the cause of death of the patient, studies are carried out on the basis of puncture material, as well as with the help of aspiration biopsy.
- The sanitary and hygienic laboratory is a subdivision of the sanitary and epidemiological station, asas a rule, such laboratories examine the environment.
Are Lab Tests Necessary for Patients?
Laboratory tests, the purpose of which are related to the fact that a clear diagnosis can be made to the patient in modern conditions, are necessary. Modern institutions can perform a huge range of different tests, which has a positive effect on the level of medical care and treatment of patients with various diseases. For the delivery of such tests, any biological material that a person has can be useful, for example, urine and blood are most often examined, in some cases sputum, a smear and scraping are taken.
What are laboratory test results for and what is their role in medicine?
Laboratory testing plays an important role in medicine. First of all, obtaining test results is necessary in order to clarify the diagnosis and begin immediate correct treatment. Research also helps to determine which treatment option will be optimal for each patient individually. In many cases, serious pathologies can be recognized in the early stages thanks to such measures. If the diagnosis was carried out correctly, then the doctor can make an assessment of the condition of his patient by almost 80%. One of the most important materials that can tell a lot about a person's condition is blood. With the help of this clinical analysis, almost all diseases can be detected. It is precisely the discrepancies with the norms that help to find out about the state, therefore, in somecases, laboratory analysis may be performed many times.
What types of laboratory tests are there?
The clinical laboratory can perform the following tests:
- If the method of immunology is used in the clinical laboratory, then basically such studies are based on the interaction of antigens. These methods help to diagnose the presence of parasites in the human body, distinguish between infectious diseases, identify hormonal disorders, and also determine the tendency to allergies and pathologies. With the help of this analysis, you can also establish a blood type.
- A blood test in another way can also be called a hematological study. An analysis is carried out in order to be able to determine many diseases in which the structure of cells changes. These tests can detect serious problems such as leukemia, myeloma, inflammation in the internal organs.
- Molecular biology is no less important. This laboratory test is based on the polymerase chain reaction, which examines DNA cells. With the help of this diagnostics, it is possible to detect hepatitis and HIV infections.
- Cytological - allows you to closely examine individual cells that are only seen under a microscope. After that, the results of tests are provided, the decoding of which may indicate the presence of cancer cells in the body, autoimmune diseases are diagnosed, and inflammatory pathological processes that can develop in the patient are determined.
- A separate type of clinical analysis can be called parasitology. With the help of a special laboratory study, it is possible to recognize the presence of ticks and helminths in the body. Most often, specialists use Darling methods, as well as native smear.
- Toxicological studies are carried out in order to be able to detect the presence of foreign bodies and substances in the body, such as poisons and toxins.
- Biochemical tests are performed much more frequently than the others listed above. With the help of these studies, the level of protein in the serum, the norms of glucose in the urine and blood are determined.
What is a blood test for?
The very first laboratory test given to a patient in a clinic is a blood test. The fact is that even the slightest change in the human body will necessarily affect the composition of his blood. The fluid, which we call blood, passes through the entire body and carries a lot of information about its condition. It is due to its connection with all human organs that blood helps the doctor to form an objective opinion about the state of he alth.
Types of blood tests and their purpose
A medical laboratory can conduct several types of blood tests, mainly their method of conducting and the type will depend on the purpose for which such studies are carried out, so all types of blood tests should be considered in more detail:
- The most common is general clinicala study that is conducted to identify a specific disease.
- Biochemical blood test makes it possible to get a complete picture of the work of organs, as well as to determine the lack of vital trace elements in time.
- Blood is taken so hormones can be tested. If the slightest changes occur in the secrets of the glands, then this can turn into serious pathologies in the future. The clinical laboratory conducts tests for hormones, which allows you to adjust the work of the human reproductive function.
- With the help of rheumatic tests, a whole complex of laboratory blood tests is carried out, which indicate the state of the patient's immune system. Often this kind of diagnosis is assigned to people who complain of pain in the joints, heart.
- A blood serology test can determine if the body can cope with a particular virus, and this test can also detect the presence of any infections.
Why are urine labs done?
Laboratory analysis of urine is based on the study of physical qualities such as quantity, color, density and reaction. With the help of chemical analysis, protein, the presence of glucose, ketone bodies, bilirubin, urobilinoids are determined. Particular attention is paid to the study of the sediment, because it is there that particles of the epithelium and blood impurities can be found.
Main urinalysis
The main diagnostic is a general urine test, it is these studies that make it possible to study the physical and chemical properties of a substance and onbased on this, draw certain conclusions, but besides this diagnosis, there are many other tests:
- Urine analysis according to Nechiporenko is a very detailed examination of the elements under a microscope, using this analysis, the presence of leukocytes is calculated, which normally should not exceed 2000 and erythrocytes - 1000.
- Laboratory analysis of urine according to Zimnitsky allows you to examine the kidneys in more detail, which should dilute urine to a normal concentration.
- A urine test for sugar is given to determine endocrine diseases, such as diabetes mellitus.
- Surveying a diastasis test allows you to determine the amount of blood that is contained in the urine.
- Bacteriological culture of urine is given to determine the sensitivity and resistance of microorganisms that caused the infection to drugs.
How is a laboratory analysis for cytology performed?
To determine if there are cancer cells in women in the body, the laboratory conducts cytology tests. In this case, the gynecologist can take a scraping from the cervix from the patient. To make such an analysis, it is necessary to prepare for it, for this the gynecologist will advise what should be done so that the analysis does not give false results. Often this clinical study is recommended for all women over 18 years of age twice a year to avoid the formation of tumors.
How is a throat swab analyzed?
If a person often suffersdiseases of the upper respiratory tract, the doctor may prescribe him a clinical test, which is called a throat swab, it is done so that the pathological flora can be recognized in time. With the help of such a study, you can find out the exact number of pathogenic microbes and start timely treatment with an antibacterial drug.
How is the quality of the researched analyzes controlled?
Laboratory blood and urine tests must be accurate, because, based on this, the doctor will be able to prescribe additional diagnostics or treatment. It is possible to say about the results of the analyzes only after the control samples are compared with the results of the measurements. When conducting a clinical study, the following substances are used: blood serum, standard aqueous solutions, various biological material. Additionally, materials of artificial origin, such as pathogenic fungi and microbiological, specially grown crops, can be used.
How are test results evaluated?
To give a complete and accurate assessment of the results of clinical tests, a method is often used when the laboratory fixes the analyzes in a special card and puts daily marks in it. A map is built over a certain period of time, for example, control material is studied for two weeks, all changes that are observed are recorded in the map.
In difficult cases, the doctor needs to constantly keep laboratory control over the condition of his patient, for example,this is necessary if the patient is preparing for a major operation. So that the doctor is not mistaken in the results, he must necessarily know the boundaries between the norm and pathology in the analyzes of his ward. Biological indicators may vary slightly, but there are those that you should not focus too much on. In other cases, if the indicators change by only 0.5 units, this is quite enough for serious irreversible changes to occur in the human body.
As you can see, laboratory diagnostics and tests play an important role in the life of every person, as well as in the development of medicine, because with the help of the clinical results obtained, many patients manage to save lives.
