Basic Labs For Healthy Youthful Aging

If asked about the basic lab tests recommended to assure longevity and youthful aging the following is what I usually recommend.

In order to know how well patients are aging they will need the common tests like a comprehensive metabolic profile (CMP) to know the general health of the liver, kidneys, acid/base balance, blood sugar, the blood minerals and proteins.

The acid/base balance is particularly important because healthy individuals tend to eat foods that keep their bodies alkaline, rather than acidic. When you remain acidic for too long it sets up the ideal environment for cells to transform into malignancies or to start to degenerate and to age prematurely.

It is also recommended to order a complete lipid profile- not just the basic lipid profile, but the more complex tests that looks at the many different fractions of lipids, including measuring the LDL particle size.

It is important to do a thorough thyroid test as the thyroid gland is important for regulating metabolism and maintaining body temperature. Many of the processes in your body rely on the proper functioning of enzymes, which are proteins that help your body functions run smoothly. The point is that under ideal core body temperatures, these enzymes work their magic but change that temperature a few degrees and the same delicate proteins begin to uncoil or coil up into abnormal configurations that no longer work.

You would also want to know your Vitamin D levels as this is very important to their longevity and to the health of their immune system.

In men, a screening for prostate cancer is done using the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test, a serine protease secreted by the prostate cells. Elevations must be examined by a urologist as it can signal disease or even malignancy within the gland. I also check my patient's testosterone levels, both the total and the free fraction.

For female patients, one should check the full spectrum of estrogens within the body- including the estradiol (E2), estriol (E3), and estrone (E1) levels. It is important not to just lump all of the estrogens together for simplicity sake because one type of estrogen hormone is not the same as another in terms of safety and cancer prevention.

Remember that hormone testing is not just for women, nor at the same time is it just for men, either. Every individual should have their hormone levels tested (both male and female hormone levels) because men make more male hormones, and women make more female hormones but we all make the same hormones and it is in the imbalance that conditions are created making us age prematurely or even to start making cancerous cells.

If there is one take home message it would be that you should stop ignoring the vague complaints, like fatigue if you have been doing so. Never just say, "Oh, I am just getting older." There are very real metabolic reasons for how you are feeling and a good physician can help you find these metabolic reasons and then help you to correct them.

by: Ana Hernandez

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