The Different Diagnostic Tests - Essay Example

I’ll start with the thyroid function tests(TFT) that check the levels of your thyroid hormones T3, T4, and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), since high or low levels of either or both hormones are signs of abnormal levels, either over-secretion (increased thyroid function) or under-secretion(decreased) respectively (Gylys &Wedding, 2009). Protein-bound iodine tests (PBI tests) were initially given and the results are interpreted much like T3and levels, but now T3and T4are used since these have faster results. About these TFTs, another test called the total calcium test is used to measure whether the parathyroid glands are fine or not, since excess calcium in the blood means that your parathyroid glands make too many hormones, making your bones weaker by losing calcium, and low calcium levels would cause your muscles to twitch. Abnormal thyroid and parathyroid hormones could affect your whole body, including your body and mood, so it’s good to have your hormone levels checked.

Another blood test for hormones that specialists might ask you to take would be blood sugar level tests. For 12 hours before the tests the doctors could check if your fasting blood sugar levels are normal, while you aren’t eating anything. Then the insulin and glucose tolerance tests would come next. Glucose tolerance tests check at regular intervals whether your body can degrade the standard dosage of glucose normally or not, and the insulin tolerance tests check your blood insulin levels by injecting you with insulin and then measuring how your blood glucose levels become affected by the added insulin at regular intervals. If your blood sugar levels in fasting, glucose, and insulin tolerance tests are higher than normal, then you have insulin hormone problems and have greater risks for diabetes. If your test results show a level way below normal, you could suffer from hypoglycemia. Otherwise, you should be fine.

I hope that after reading this letter, at least now, and somehow your fears of going to the specialist have lessened. I will be waiting for you to tell me about the test results. In good faith, I am wishing for your wellness every day. Stay healthy!   Chief Complaint: Inability to blink or close right eye, dryness in the mouth, excessive tearing in the right eye especially during eating, difficulty moving some parts of the right side of the face. S: The patient was admitted to the hospital after losing the ability to blink the right eye and experiencing a dry mouth and watery right eye, suggesting paralysis of some kind (Medline Plus, 2013). Symptoms appeared around 48 hours after contracting what appears to be the common cold or influenza, with the patient having no control in opening or closing the right eyelid or moving the eye, shedding tears while trying to move the mouth (crocodile tears) and having difficulty moving the mouth and eyelid on the right side of the face. The patient also shows slight drooping of the affected half of the face, and upon inspection, some parts of the right eyelid and the corners of the right part of the mouth show signs of weakness (Medline Plus, 2013; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NINDS, 2012). Diabetes is ruled out as possible cause of paralysis due to a lack of familial and personal history of the disease.

O: Physical examinations included electromyography (EMG) to check for possible nerve damage, blood tests were administered to assess the possibility of diabetes and/or confirm the presence of infection, and other imaging modalities such as MRI and CT scan were used to check for structural abnormalities or inflammations, and nerve conduction velocity (NCV) is given to test muscular dystrophy or other neurological disorders that might have caused the paralysis (NINDS, 2012).EMG results showed increased action potential in the right side of the face, NCV test results showed possible blockage of the nerve pathway, and confirmed by the MRI and CT scan showing an inflammation near the 7thcranial nerve. Immunological tests ruled out Herpes simplex infection, and blood work revealed the patient has normal blood glucose levels. Read More