The idea of starting the year with a clean slate, particularly a clean bill of health, is appealing. We run through five health tests that might be worth considering.

The type 2 diabetes, or HbA1c, test

A relatively new test, the HbA1c test looks at ‘glycated haemoglobin’ in your body, averaged over the last three months, to determine if you have diabetes, prediabetes or healthy levels of HbA1c.

With 1.2 million Australians living with diabetes, a further 500,00 suspected of having undiagnosed diabetes and with the condition projected to grow to 3.5 million by 2033, it’s a real spectre on the health horizon. Someone can live with diabetes for 7 years before any symptoms become apparent, causing damage to the body in the meantime.

Take the 2-minute AUSDRISK diabetes assessment to learn if you might be at risk and need to book in for a test.

The skin cancer, or melanoma, test

Australians have the highest rates of skin cancer in the world, and melanoma is the third most common cancer in Australia, and two-thirds of Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer by the time they’re 70.

A visit to the doctor or skin specialist to check spots and for other symptoms is your first port of call. If required, the doctor may perform a biopsy to test for any suspected skin cancer.

Bowel cancer screening

Every year 17,000 Australians are diagnosed with bowel cancer, but the good news is that bowel cancer is one of the preventable cancers, meaning with changes to diet and lifestyle, the dangers can be reversed or mitigated.

Of those diagnosed with bowel cancer, 93% are aged over 50. If detected early, 9 out of 10 bowel cancer cases can be successfully treated. And in a stroke of further good fortune, the Australian government runs a free bowel screening test program, sending a testing kit to your house, no less, which you can conduct and return at your own convenience.

Cholesterol test

Cholesterol is no good for the old heart and brain, so if you’re over 45 you want to check that out – particularly if high cholesterol and heart disease run in the family. For those under 45, other risk factors include smoking, excess weight, diabetes, high blood pressure renal failure, or being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent.

A cholesterol test involves taking a blood sample and looking for LDL-C, a bad cholesterol (there are good ones too) which collects in the walls of blood vessels.

STI and related tests

No, young people do not escape testing. If you are sexually active you might want to consider testing for chlamydia, syphilis, or gonorrhoea, as well as the three H’s: human papillomavirus, HIV and hepatitis.

STIs are on the rise in Australia and often symptoms will be missed. If not detected and treated the health effects can be significant. More detail on how these tests work can be found here.

While GPs are often the first port of call for someone concerned about a medical condition, and where test referrals are made, it’s the pathology lab where a diagnosis is determined.

‘There are plenty of health conditions out there of concern,’ says Victorian pathologist, Dr David Clift ‘but the good news is that a lot of these conditions are preventable and treatable.’

‘Certainly, the five conditions mentioned here are preventable. If you haven’t had a test ever or for a while and have concerns, it’s good to know with Australia’s leading-edge pathology sector that you can have a simple test and set your mind at ease for the coming year.’

The post 5 health tests to start 2019 on the right footing first appeared on Know Pathology Know Healthcare.

Heart disease is the number one killer of Australian women – claiming the lives of twenty-four women a day – and is responsible for one in eight premature deaths in women.

Pathology has an important role in helping keep women’s hearts healthy and in diagnosing and treating women with heart conditions.

Cardiology specialist Associate Professor Clara Chow told us; “A range of tests are used to assess women’s heart disease risk and tests also help in monitoring progress and treatment targets.”

One in three Australian adult women has high cholesterol and a worrying ninety percent of these women are not aware of their condition. What’s more, only one in nine women aged 30-65 know that high cholesterol is a risk factor for heart disease. This is why the Heart Foundation is so concerned about raising awareness of heart health among women and encouraging them to learn more about risk factors and to talk to their doctor about testing.

So, what tests are used in a regular heart health check?

A/Prof Chow said; “A full lipid profile is key, i.e; not just total cholesterol, but LDL-cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides and the ratio of these. It’s important to also assess for diabetes with screening tests including glucose and HbA1C as well as looking at renal function – in terms of creatinine and eGFR.”

The new approach to lipids testing which no longer requires patients to fast for eight hours before having their blood taken for testing is good news for heart health as it makes testing easier for patients.

In terms of diagnosis and treatment, pathology is vital. A/Prof Chow said, “Pathology tests help in assessing whether there is an acute problem. Sensitive cardiac troponin tests, for example, are often used to diagnose whether chest pain is part of an acute coronary syndrome.”

High sensitivity troponin is effective in diagnosing heart attacks in women that might otherwise have been missed. This test is used extensively in Australian hospitals for people who present to emergency departments with chest pain.

The test measures the level of the protein troponin in the patient’s blood which is released by the heart muscle during a heart attack.

Fifty Australian women have a heart attack each day, and eleven of these will be fatal. Women often experience the lesser known symptoms such as pain in the jaw, shoulder, neck and back. When a woman experiences a heart attack, the level of troponin in her blood may be lower than the typical range for a man which is why a high sensitivity test is helpful in detecting it.

Diagnosing a heart attack quickly means patients can be given the best treatment.

According to the recent Economic Value of Pathology report, troponin testing can help to manage down the $167 million a year spent on people who present to emergency departments with chest pain.

A/Prof Chow said pathology allows doctors to find out more about related conditions as causes for heart problems:

“In patients with known coronary heart disease or those with heart failure there may be other tests that can help. These vary between patients but one example would be for a female patient with a new presentation of heart failure, we might do thyroid function tests and iron studies as these may help us understand what could be causing her condition.”

The Heart Foundation has succeeded in raising women’s awareness of heart disease as the leading cause of death in women, from 20% in 2008 to 35% in 2015. They are now striving to spread the message even further and reach a target of 50% by December 2017.

Learn more about the campaign here

Associate Professor Clara Chow is Associate Professor with the Faculty of Medicine University of Sydney, Director of the Cardiovascular division of The George Institute, and Program Director, Community Based Cardiac Services, Westmead Hospital.

The post Making the Invisible Visible – pathology protects women’s heart health first appeared on Know Pathology Know Healthcare.