Blood Test and Auto Immune Disease

[misskitty]

Vampyred!

I have a question...how long does it usually take a lab to do blood work on you?

 

[iansmith]

It depends on the type of test and the number of sample at the time. Lab tend to do sample by batch.

Some test will take 24 hours other 48 hours some may take up to a week. A good and high through put lab can do almost every test within 48 hours.

 

[misskitty]

How do they do things like Auto Immune Deficency tests?

 

[misskitty]

Auto Immune Deficiency...

I had a few questions about Auto Immune Deficiency...like MS and MD.

How do they test for things like that?
How do they treat it?

Also, how do the technicians do a blood count, red and white?

just curious.

 

[misskitty]

Btw: thanks to whom ever linked these...I wanted to edit them, but couldn't do it without deleting them.

 

[Ouabache]

Also, how do the technicians do a blood count, red and white?

just curious.

I don't know about your other questions but for white blood cells WBC, here is a method they could use:
First you lyse (break) the red blood cells, which essentially removes them from view. Then you take a dilution of the remaining sample and place it on a hemocytometer. This is a grid pattern on a slide you can observe under a light microscope. You just count up the number of nuclei you see on the grid and multiply that by a known factor (for that cytometer). This gives you the number of cells per volume of blood.

A good reference on how white blood cells are counted in animals can be viewed at a veterinary science website at Cornell Univ. It has a nice diagram of the hemocytometer.

http://www.diaglab.vet.cornell.edu/clinpath/modules/hemogram/wbc.htm

I am familiar with these calibrated slides. I have used them to count phytopathogenic fungal spores, to determine their concentration in suspension.

 

[misskitty]

That makes sense. How do they do a red count to check for anemia (sp?)? Or do they just check the levels of iron in you blood.

 

[iansmith]

A quick test for red blood cell is to take blood in a capillary and let the RBC settle at the bottom of the capillary tube. If the RBC are below 50% (give or take) then the person might be suffering from annemia. RBC above 50% is also not a good thing.

 

[soeren]

I have a question...how long does it usually take a lab to do blood work on you?

i got my results always the day later..

but the work for the test wouldn't cost so much time for the lab... some minutes until some hours, i think...

Greets
Soeren

 

[misskitty]

So I should have my results by the next time I visit my PCP?

 

[MusicMonkey]

Depending on when you are visiting. Some doctors request blood test results faster and most likely have the results for the next visit.

 

[misskitty]

I hate waiting for them. Especially since it took over two months to even get the tests ordered.

 

[Moonbear]

Did you call your doctor and ask? That would be the easiest way to find out. Sometimes they get the results in quickly, but as long as you have an office visit scheduled, don't bother calling with the results if they can tell you in person. Some doctors also have a bad habit of not calling if there's nothing abnormal requiring follow-up, which leaves you stuck wondering and worrying unless you call them and ask.

 

[misskitty]

They wouldn't order the tests. Even though I requested them several times. All of my physicians kept telling me that the tests were not necessary. Until I met withone doctor and told him why I had had such difficulty with this, he actually asked me it I had had a blood work-up, he said they should have ordered the tests a long time ago. Especially since nothing had shown up on the MRI.

 

[adrenaline]

I had a few questions about Auto Immune Deficiency...like MS and MD.

How do they test for things like that?
How do they treat it?

Also, how do the technicians do a blood count, red and white?

just curious.

Not sure what MD is but as for multiple sclerosis there is no single blood test that confirms its diagnosis. It is usually a constellation of tests and their results... such as an MRI that shows demylenation process, a visual evoked potential that is abnormal (special type of EEG) and a spinal tap ( to look for oligoclonal antibodies) combined with clinical presentation that supports the diagnosis of MS.

 

[misskitty]

MD is the abbreviation for Muscular Dystrophy. Those test sound like a blast!

 

[adrenaline]

MD is the abbreviation for Muscular Dystrophy. Those test sound like a blast!

Muscular dystrophies in general are considered genetic diseases rather than autoimmune diseases.

 

[misskitty]

I was told it is also considered an auto immune deficency.

 

[adrenaline]

I was told it is also considered an auto immune deficency.

No, you were told wrong. Perhaps they meant other muscle disorders such as myasthenia gravis or polymyositis which are autoimmune disorders but are not muscular dystrophies. This link gives a nice synopsis about the different main types of muscular disorders, delineating the inflammatory, autoimmune types from the congenital muscular dystrophys. http://www.geocities.com/CollegePark/Classroom/9056/muscle.html