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Speaker 1: Oh hello, welcome to Healthy Ish. Thanks for joining us

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Speaker 1: today on the Body and Soul podcast. I'm the host

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Speaker 1: of Felicity Harley. Now, when was the last time you

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Speaker 1: went for a blood test, or perhaps you have never

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Speaker 1: had one? Well, there are many questions around how often

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Speaker 1: we should get them, what we should ask for, and

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Speaker 1: to clear it all up today I am joined by

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Speaker 1: nutritionist Eduena Ekins from Performance for Nutrition, and she discusses

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Speaker 1: the importance of regular blood tests, how to actually ask

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Speaker 1: for them if you do, front up to a reluctant doctor.

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Speaker 1: Plus you lists the exact ones you should get. Now

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Speaker 1: make sure you're listening to Extra Healthy Ish, where Eduena

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Speaker 1: talks about well how you can be a more confident

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Speaker 1: cook and nail your nutrition. At the same time, you

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Speaker 1: can listen in to Extra Healthy Ish wherever you get

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Speaker 1: your podcasts. Hey Donner, welcome back to health you shan well,

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Speaker 1: back to Australia.

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Speaker 2: Thank you, Felicity, happy to be here.

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Speaker 1: Yes, now I want to ask you all about your trip,

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Speaker 1: but perhaps we should talk about blood tests.

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Speaker 2: That's what you're here for.

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Speaker 1: Tell us about why a blood test so important.

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Speaker 2: Blood tests are a key tool used by medical professionals

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Speaker 2: and allied health professionals for diagnosing, monitoring, and assessing health

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Speaker 2: conditions and changes. They give us an insight into what's

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Speaker 2: occurring internally in the body, for example, organ function, immune system,

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Speaker 2: hormone imbalance, and nutritional deficiencies. And I really recommend them,

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Speaker 2: particularly post forty on an annual basis, as part of

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Speaker 2: preventative practice for maintaining long term health.

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Speaker 1: They're not when you're going to see your GP. Often

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Speaker 1: you know you have to mention it not your GP.

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Speaker 1: You're a nutritionist, why are they important for you? Talk

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Speaker 1: to us about what they can tell us about the

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Speaker 1: nutritional status.

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Speaker 2: Yes, I recognize there is some nervousness about requesting blood tests.

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Speaker 2: I give people a list to ask their GPS. One

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Speaker 2: of the reasons is one of the ways we assess

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Speaker 2: nutritional status is dietary information, so we ask what you know,

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Speaker 2: what do we eat on a regular basis, also symptoms,

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Speaker 2: but sometimes without actually having a blood test, we don't

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Speaker 2: know whether you're absorbing, utilizing deficient in a particular vitamin. So,

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Speaker 2: for example, something like iron or vitamin D are direct

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Speaker 2: indicators of nutritional deficiency. So blood test is really the

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Speaker 2: only way to diagnose that.

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Speaker 1: What back to my point about I suppose i'm when

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Speaker 1: you know, I've had many instances where I've walked into

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Speaker 1: with my GP before forty and after forty where I've

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Speaker 1: had to almost not dare, I say, beg for a

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Speaker 1: blood test. How do we go about asking our GP

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Speaker 1: if they are reluctant, because I know that you know,

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Speaker 1: if you go in every six months, if you're twenty

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Speaker 1: five and fit and healthy, they can clog up the

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Speaker 1: whole care system.

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Speaker 2: Yes. Well, my personal view on that is, if you're

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Speaker 2: a taxpayer, you have a right to access Medicare in

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Speaker 2: the same way other people do. But I think if

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Speaker 2: you think about it in a way that if you

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Speaker 2: track trends and changes in blood markers, you're actually saving

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Speaker 2: Medicare or the medical system costs in the long term

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Speaker 2: because you can pick up diagnose issues before they become

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Speaker 2: a chronic condition, which costs Medicare way more than a

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Speaker 2: simple blood test. So I recommend people go in and

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Speaker 2: talk to their GP about what's going on. So there

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Speaker 2: might be commencing training for half marathon or marathon, or

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Speaker 2: feeling particularly fatigued or even anxious or nervous about the

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Speaker 2: health status is enough to warrant a blood test, So

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Speaker 2: it's just having the confidence to ask, and if the

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Speaker 2: GP says no, then just saying why not, because look,

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Speaker 2: we have to be a little bit cognizant of cost,

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Speaker 2: because every individual test does cost. But most gps you know,

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Speaker 2: are fairly reasonable in listening to you and action in

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Speaker 2: blood tests.

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Speaker 1: If you ask, what about if you're under forty? I mean,

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Speaker 1: should we be having them regularly or is it only

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Speaker 1: if you're feeling certain symptoms?

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Speaker 2: My general recommendation is, you know, under forty every couple

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Speaker 2: of years, so at least every two to three years,

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Speaker 2: but more regularly if you've got a family history of

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Speaker 2: a condition, or if you've got symptoms like if you

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Speaker 2: are feeling particularly fatigued and sleep is not improving that,

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Speaker 2: or if you've got a really unhappy gut or there's

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Speaker 2: something else going on, then it definitely warrants having a

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Speaker 2: blood test.

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Speaker 1: What should we ask for?

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Speaker 2: So I have a list, Yes, I have my fairly

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Speaker 2: standard list. So that list includes red blood cells, vitamin D,

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Speaker 2: thyroid lipids which is your cholesterol, druge lycerites, et cetera,

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Speaker 2: vitamin B twelve, iron, liver function, and kidney function. And

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Speaker 2: then anything in addition to that, if you've got again

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Speaker 2: a family history or particular symptoms. So for example, if

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Speaker 2: you had suddenly an increased thirst or weight gain, you

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Speaker 2: might look at some of the pre diabetic markers like

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Speaker 2: fasting glucose, fasting insulin, or HbA one C, which is

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Speaker 2: the three month average of glucose.

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Speaker 1: The initial ones you said, they're pretty they're the standard,

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Speaker 1: aren't they. Like often doctors will just put you through

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Speaker 1: all those and they are covert in medicare.

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Speaker 2: Yes, they may not. It really is at the GP's discretion.

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Speaker 2: So for example, if you went in and said you

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Speaker 2: had your suffering fatigue and history of low iron, they

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Speaker 2: may just check iron markers. So again it's really at

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Speaker 2: that discretion, but it kind of makes sense to test

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Speaker 2: a few more things out of the one sample of blood.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think that it comes down to you.

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Speaker 1: You know, we are in charge of our own health

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Speaker 1: and we can't just rely on the GP to know

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Speaker 1: everything that's going on. And you know, if you've got

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Speaker 1: a family history of atheroscrosis or something, well then maybe

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Speaker 1: you need other things checks. So I mean, I now,

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Speaker 1: after hosting this podcast, go with a long list. Yes,

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Speaker 1: and the GP is like, do you really need that? Yes,

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Speaker 1: I do need that. You know, my father has that

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Speaker 1: heart disease.

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Speaker 2: I need this.

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Speaker 1: So I think that you know you are in charge

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Speaker 1: of your own health.

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Speaker 2: Definitely, you are your own first doctor, and your GP

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Speaker 2: may not be aware of your family history or your

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Speaker 2: family health issues. So having a long list.

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Speaker 1: Is a really good idea when it comes to results.

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Speaker 1: Now this is something that you know, perhaps this is

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Speaker 1: a personal question for me to you. How can we

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Speaker 1: get better at understanding our results because often, you know,

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Speaker 1: you walk in and they and your GP might say, okay,

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Speaker 1: check me, everything's fine, or they might say what about

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Speaker 1: this measurement? You iron measurements lower? I mean, how how

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Speaker 1: do we as our own first doctor but not a doctor?

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Speaker 2: Yes, yes, no, I do see in my clinic frequently

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Speaker 2: I'll ask people if they've had a blood test and

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Speaker 2: they'll say yes, and I'll say okay, can I see them?

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Speaker 2: Or what were the results and they'll say, well, I

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Speaker 2: don't know. The GP didn't call me. So they do

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Speaker 2: fall through the cracks sometimes, So it's really important to

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Speaker 2: actually get a copy of those blood tests and ask

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Speaker 2: you go back to the GP if anything's out of

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Speaker 2: the range, So there are reference ranges next to each

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Speaker 2: particular blood marker and if you're above all below that,

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Speaker 2: we want to know why. There is also a really

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Speaker 2: good site called Pathology Tests Explained dot org dot au show.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, and it's a good one.

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Speaker 2: It's not for profit, run by a board of a

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Speaker 2: number of really credible organizations, including the Royal College of

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Speaker 2: Pathologists of Australasia, and you can actually go in there

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Speaker 2: and search either a condition and the associated blood markers

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Speaker 2: or the particular tests. So for example, what does one

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Speaker 2: of the liver enzymes ALP actually mean and it will

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Speaker 2: describe what might be causing it to be high or low.

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Speaker 2: So it's a good way of just educating yourself. But

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Speaker 2: as you said, it is a good idea to understand

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Speaker 2: what all those acronyms on the blood test actually mean

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Speaker 2: and keep a copy of them because you might then

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Speaker 2: be going on to a specialist and it's really important

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Speaker 2: information to pass on to a specialist.

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Speaker 1: And then I mean I over folder at home, collected

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Speaker 1: over time, and then you can look back at you know,

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Speaker 1: what's been going on.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that's really important because the trends are really important.

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Speaker 2: The change is often a trigger for either concern or delight,

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Speaker 2: depending which way it's going. But it's the change that's important,

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Speaker 2: not actually the actual number.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Aduina, thank you for coming on.

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Speaker 2: Healthy, Thank you for having me.

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Speaker 1: Hey, if you did enjoy this chat with a Duenna,

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Speaker 1: if you walked away and thought, yes, I know exactly

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Speaker 1: what to ask for when it comes to a blood test.

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Speaker 1: Listening to her on extra Healthy Use. Last time she

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Speaker 1: was in the studio, we talked about whether your current

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Speaker 1: health routine is doing more harm than good. If you

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Speaker 1: did enjoy this chat, tell us rate and review this episode,

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Speaker 1: subscribe to this podcast anything else, head to Body and

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Speaker 1: Soul dot com, dot you follows on socials, Grab our

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Speaker 1: print edition, which is our your local Sunday paper, and

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Speaker 1: until tomorrow, stay healthy ish