At-home blood tests

2. May 2009 William Davis (6)
Our at-home blood tests are proving a hit.

So far, vitamin D is the number one most popular test, no surprise.

Second--to my surprise--is DHEA. I would have predicted it would have been thyroid testing.

Our male and female hormone panels are also proving popular.

I've personally been using the thyroid and vitamin D testing to monitor my levels. I increased my Armour thyroid based on a low free T3 value, while my vitamin D was perfect at 77 ng/ml on 8000 units vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) per day.

The process of performing the blood spots is straightforward. The finger pricks are virtually painless using the automatic spring-loaded finger stick devices:





The number of blots to make depends on how many tests you'd like. Just a vitamin D test requires 2 blots. If 6 or more tests are ordered at a time, then all 12 blots should be made. (Two spring-loaded lancets are provided in each kit.)





If you are interested in any of our at-home blood tests, go here.

Our own Heart Hawk has posted an editorial on about blood spot testing on Health Central:

Simple, affordable home blood testing is a real game-changer in the arena of informed, self-directed healthcare. For the first time broad access to home blood testing, on a scale similar to that enjoyed by persons who routinely test their blood sugar, is available to virtually everyone and it removes doctors as the gatekeepers of these tests. Even private insurance companies and Medicare are beginning to understand the potential for improving healthcare and decreasing costs and are slowly beginning to expand coverage of home blood testing much as they do for diabetics or persons taking anti-coagulants.
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Comments (6) -

  • Anna

    5/2/2009 4:22:00 PM |

    I'm curious about the requirement that California  residents must have a doctor's prescription when sending in the test kit.  I'm a CA resident and I've done home testing a few times with other labs and I never needed an order or Rx from my doctor.  

    Why do these tests have that CA requirement?  I think that policy might need to be reviewed.

    New York State, though, does prohibit home test kits, which really stinks, IMO.  I don't even think one can home test even with a doctor's OK.    I don't know how the state thinks that is protecting their residents.  I had to relay-mail my dad's www.grassrootshealth.net Vit D study test kit to him in NYS to get around this silly prohibition.

  • Big B

    5/3/2009 4:23:00 AM |

    Nice informative blog

    try Heart Health

  • Nick

    5/3/2009 9:25:00 PM |

    I love the idea of at-home blood tests and your April 12 post on self-directed health.  Certainly, websites such as this one, Blood Sugar 101, Whole Health Source, Hyperlipid and Dr Eades blog make it easier to begin to take charge of one's own health (a prediabetes FBS brought me to this world and I am now low-carb and grain free as a result).

    My first experience with a home test was via Grassroots Health's vitamin D test.  One of the things that made it simple and worth doing was all the information on Vitamin D at the usual blogs, including the Vitamin D Council.  I was able to start supplementing immediately once I saw my level.

    But I find that things get more complicated when one tries to interpret the results of the various blood tests offered via TYP.

    For example, I saw an ND who gave me an at home saliva test and an OGTT.  I knew I was prediabetic, but was told I was hypothyroid (very low cortisol), insulin resistant, hypoglycemic and that my serotonin, GABA, and dopamine were very low and nor-epinephrine was too high.  My hsCRP was below 3, but not .5.  Oh, yeah, and something about adrenal fatigue, which I'm not even sure exists.

    I did not follow the advice of the ND because I found so much conflicting information.  My hope is that the Heart Scan Blog will offer much more information about how to interpret the results of the blood tests and what course of action is recommended given various results.

  • PRIDE MAFIA

    5/4/2009 12:28:00 AM |

    I thought that the only testosterone test that mattered was the "free" bio available testosterone level test, which is a saliva test? A man can have "normal" serum T level but none of it is being used which the "free" T test can show

  • Anonymous

    11/22/2009 5:46:39 AM |

    ...please where can I buy a unicorn?

  • buy jeans

    11/3/2010 3:02:55 PM |

    New York State, though, does prohibit home test kits, which really stinks, IMO. I don't even think one can home test even with a doctor's OK. I don't know how the state thinks that is protecting their residents. I had to relay-mail my dad's www.grassrootshealth.net Vit D study test kit to him in NYS to get around this silly prohibition.

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"Placebos are frequently of value"

"Placebos are frequently of value"

12. May 2009 William Davis (1)
The treatment of angina pectoris, generally speaking, is unsatisfactory.

Any procedure that relieves mental tension is valuable. Since patients suffer particularly during the winter, I encourage winter vacations in a southern climate.

I insist that obese patients lose weight, and have found small doses of benzedrine, 10 to 20 mg. daily, helpful in curbing the appetite.

I generally forbid smoking. This is a particularly disturbing task for many patients to carry out. In such cases, I suggest that 3 or 4 cigarettes be smoked daily, knowing full well that regardless of what I say or recommend, the patients is going to continue to smoke.

Innumerable drugs, most of which are of questionable value, have been used to prevent attacks of angina pectoris. In fact, placebos are frequently of value.

Testosterone--The male sex hormone has been effective in my experience. Whether it acts as a vasodilator or merely by promoting a sense of well-being is not known.

Alcohol--Alcohol (whiskey, brandy, rum) has been used for many years in the treatment of angina pectoris. I have prescribed it in moderate quantity--an ounce several times a day--and while I have not made alcoholics of any of my patients, I also have not cured any of them with it. Preparations, such as creme de menthe, are of value in relieving "gas" of which so many patients complain.


From Heart Disease Diagnosis and Treatment
Emanuel Goldberger, MD
1951
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  • Roger

    5/12/2009 8:04:00 PM |

    That guy was way ahead of his time.  Doctors were posing for cigarette ads in the '50s.  And who cared if you had "middle-age spread?"  We've just update his benzedrine Rx with Red Bull and triple lattés.  I'm surprised Nitroglycerine wasn't mentioned; my dad took it for his angina.  The winter vacation in the tropics suggestion could have been all about Vitamin D, without knowing it.

    The Atlantic Monthly had an essay on the placebo effect that I have never forgotten.  You can read it below.

    http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/2000/10/fisher.htm

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