Why can’t a single blood test show you all the information you need instead of having to take multiple tests for different markers?
In: Biology
A blood test looks at the number of molecules or ions in a specified volume of blood.
To get this information, you need to mix the blood with different chemicals to draw them out before processing them. This is why different blood bottles exist, because mixing with the wrong ‘reagent’ will produce errors.
Even the most basic (common, not necessarily easiest) blood test like kidney function is still looking for four things: urea, creatinine, sodium and potassium. They all get processed off the same bottle helpfully, but if you wanted to do a full blood count (haemoglobin, white cells etc etc) that’s a different bottle and will give you upwards of 8 different numbers depending on the lab.
TL:DR – most blood tests are actually lots of results rolled into a list. There a far too many things in the blood to look for everything every time, it would cost tons.
Latest Answers