Many ailments can be detected in urine testing or urinalysis. This includes kidney and liver disease, urinary tract infections and diabetes. A urine test is used to determine normal and abnormal  values within the body's functions.

The urine test and associated disorders:

Protien and Albumin- are associated with kidney  and cardiac disorders.
Blood and Hemoglobin- are associated with kidney,bladder disorders and myocardial infarct.
pH(acid/alkaline)- are associated with general immune system function(eg. the body's removal of toxins and harmful bacteria) to prevent disease.
Bilirubin- is associated with liver disease, hepatitis and cirrhosis.
Urobilinogen- is associated with liver and biliary disease.
Leukocytes- are associated with white blood cells are associated with kidney and urinary tract diseases.
Nitrite- is associated with bacteriuria and urinary infection.
Glucose- is associated with diabetes and renal glycosuria.
Ketones-are associated with poor diet or food intake, insulin overuse and diabetic ketoacidosis.
Specific gravity-is associated with kidney disorders and even congestive heart failure.

Physicians do not test the urine for viral loads spectfic for any disease including Hepatitis C. The viral load is the measurement or amount of a particular virus in the body. Viral loads are usually measured by milliliter(EQ/ML). Viral detection or viral loads are necessary in order to determine if a patient has a disease eg. Hepatitis C. A physician, during a routine exam may not request labs for Hepatitis since the patient mostly covered in tattoos, denies exposure, risk or was unaware of the disease. Urine tests can be done in the physicians office, and are not expensive. It can be cost effective for labs and laboratory test companies to offer a standardized urine dip-stick test for Hepatitis C viral load detection in addition to the routine testing of urinalysis. Upon findings that a patient has a rather high Hepatitis C viral load (HCV) detected in the urine the physician can  either a)order a lab(blood) test to confirm viral presence and discuss Hepatitis A,B and C with the patient or b) if there is no viral load present in the urine for Hepatitis C the physician does not have to order unnecessary tests for Hepatitis since the patient does not have symptoms during the exam. Hence, this approach becomes cost effective to the patient since many have insurances with high deductibles.

Why should there be standardized Hepatitis C viral load testing in urine?

Hepatitis C can become a chronic disease and over time cancer of the liver can occur. The earlier the detection the sooner one can get treatment to avoid damage to the liver. There is no vaccine to prevent Hepatitis C which is why the viral load detection is important so that the virus, if present can be remedied quickly before possible progression. Patients who are on a budget may refuse such tests due to the expense. If standardized Hepatitis C viral load tests were offered during routine urinalysis dip stick testing the advantages are economical and the results would prioritize who would need complete testing and evaluation for Hepatitis C and who would not.

Back in the day only pap smears were given to detect the presence of abnormal cells or cancer. Then low and you know what behold... HPV (another add on of germy compliations or just another way of finally naming high risk abnormal cells) develops. Now, not only are physicians doing pap smears they also test for HPV. This is standarized during an exam regardless of cost and not a yes or no question of, if you want to be tested for it. For teens and very young adults there is a vaccine that offers prevention. For those past that age of innocence, there is no cure or prevention available. There is no cure for Hepatitis C for anyone of any age, if the viral load test became a standarzided one during urinalysis; the more informed one is regarding the results the sooner the remedy!

Allergies occur when the body has a harmful immune response from a protein that has been inhaled, eaten, drank or exposed to the body in a way that causes it to be sensitized and unable to tolerate the protein or otherwise called in this instance an allergen. When the body has a reaction, immunoglobulin or IgE proteins are released and that is what causes allergic reaction symptoms. This can also cause the white blood cells or T-lymphocytes and eosinophilis to increase because the body's is trying to rid itself of the allergy causing substance. The allergy causing culprit could be anything from food to animals or even soap, cologne or perfume. Sometimes, things are not that simple. As a child one may be allergic to seafood or different types of nuts. This probably occured as you ate them and then realized your body had a negative response to it. After surviving all of this you then changed your diet to add more junk food so that you could avoid not being able to breathe or swell up with bumps and hives, making you look like one scary creature. Food allergies sometimes are something a person can remedy by avoiding certain types of food so that allergic reactions do not occur.

Problem:

Although, a person can attempt to be allergy free by not eating certain foods; what happens when a person is prescribed a medication for: angina, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and congestive heart failure and it is found that they are allergic to the medication? If they continue the medication the high risk of allergic reaction and depending on the severity it can be life threatening. If the medication is stopped, the patient will have problems with their blood pressure being too high or they will begin to get chest pain. Had the physician known that the patient is allergic to some medications perhaps another one would have been used. But we need to ask ourselves, how many physicians offices take blood from the patient and then send it to a lab to determine if they they are allergic to Atorvastatin or Metoprolol? Probably not many. Although, testing for pollen, dust mites, nuts and underwater food is probably the norm. There seems to be no guideline that suggests a physician to test for medication reactions so that the physician can safely prescribe a medication to a patient knowing he or she will not be in distress eg. unable to breathe as a result of a medication the physician prescribed. There may not be any lab tests used by labs to check for allergic reactions to medications although there should be.

Because medications are cheaper as a result of them being made generically, there is a chance that those who took the brand name of a medication were fine up until they began the generic. If a pre-medication work-up or testing was provided, harmful instances of bad reactions along with a waste of money on medications your body will not tolerate could have been prevented. Medication allergy testing should be implemented or considered due to the increase of generic brands on the market, which puts the physician in a difficult situation of having to try and select from a myriad of medications that do the same thing but are also generic, in attempts to find one that the patient does not have an allergic reaction to. If none are available their insurance company may not pay  for the brand unless prior approval is obtained and sometimes the insurance company still will not provide the brand.

Medication allergy testing is a way to get approval from the insurance company for a brand medication if you are one of those who is highly sensitive to the ingredients in generic medications.
For example a patient was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. Prior to the advent of the generic brand, Synthroid became the medication of choice. Soon after taking the brand medication, the patient informed the physician that their insurance company will no longer pay for brand name medication. The physician then prescribed levothyroxine. The symptoms were horrific in that the medication caused difficulty breathing and irregular heart rate. The physician then, had to find a way to get the insurance company to pay for the brand name of Synthroid.  Hmmm, there were no medication coupons in the office.  Instead, the physician sought out medication (IgE) allergy testing and began to take blood, labs and test the patient for other allergic reactions to the various generic brands of medication. It was discovered that the patient had positive allergy results to several of the more common generic brands of medication, with regard to the (IgE test) for medication allergy testing. The physician then took the test information and informed the patients insurance company. The patient was then approved for the brand name medication of Synthroid.

When insurers exist like accidents waiting to happen- Medication (IgE) Allergy Testing provides the results you need, so you can be yourself again and get the brand name you want!

Heart disease which can lead to heart attacks are a very serious problem, even after receiving treatment such as a coronary stent. People think, "Gee the doctor just repaired my severly clogged artery by putting a stent into it. Now, I just need to eat properly whenever I am around other people and look like I go exercising or at least talk about it in order to stay healthy. Right?" Well, you may look healthy; now that the color has returned to your body and you're no longer complaining of aches and pains or the feeling of sickness, but your artery is still in the woods. Why? The artery was given a chance to see the road and flow freely again with the aid of a stent. But, the stent is susceptible to the trees, weeds, grass, dirt and wildlife that make up the woods in the artery. In time the stent and subsequently the artery may be prevented from seeing the road of blood and oxygen to the heart. This is known as re-stenosis, when an artery becomes clogged or blocked after stent placement. Drug-eluting stents consist of the stent that contains a drug which prevents fibrosis, scarring and blood clots from forming in an already damaged artery. Over time the medication from the drug-eluting stents is not as effective and becomes unable to assist the stent in keeping the artery open. When this happens the stent in your heart is like have a bare metal stent that is subjected to the trees,weeds,grass, dirt and wildlife in the woods of the artery without any other protection. This also means another risk of having a heart attack.

A coronary stent is not like a pacemaker. A person cannot go or call to his or her cardiologist and say, "Hey, doctor you non-invasive you know what, get over here and check my stent out! I'm having some pains and what not and I want to know what's the problem." The physician cannot dial in to some piece of equipment and determine if the stent is functioning properly. A physician, once the patient visits the physician in his or her office: may use a stethoscope to listen for a bruit sound- this is when the blood flows in a distressed or turbulent way through the heart from the damaged artery. The physician may also determine the ratio of systolic blood pressure from the ankles and arms to determine if arterial obstruction is present, if levels are below 0.9-this is called ankle brachial pressure index(APBI). The physician may also obtain an EKG, if results indicate 1st, 2nd,or 3rd degree heart block then the chambers of the electrical system in the heart are not working properly due to a blockage. That's if they decide to do all of this or if they want to run over to the local hospital for more incomes to see patient who has already been seen and prodded by several other doctors of all specialties.

In any event what else can be done, since stents and their effectiveness become
questionable? After non-invasive examination of a patient proves that there is a problem probably coming from the stented artery or another artery that has become blocked, more testing by way of nuclear stress test or angiography should be done to determine where the blockage is. The problem here is not that the artery has to be re-stented because in time the new stent will eventually need to be replaced just as pacemakers do ect. Artifical components in the body usually only last for a period of years before having to be replaced. Besides stenting or re-stenting, should plaque and the removal of in the arteries be done as though you're going for a minimal procedure appointment minus the wait? This may be more effective, if it can be done on a person depending on how bad the artery damage is. Atherectomy is a procedure that removes plaque in the heart artery through catheters. If an atherectomy can be done by using hydrated silica(not to be confused with crystalline silica which is a toxin) and calcium carbonate inserted through catheters in attempts to vaporize the plaque from the arteries, this would cleanse the arteries and thus one would no longer need a stent. This procedure may depend on the condition of the arteries, but if a person has more than one blocked artery and was able to have the plaque removed, this would reduce heart disease and heart attack risk by half without the worry of stenting. Although, atherectomy may not be for every patient with heart disease it should be an option for those whose arteries can tolerate the procedure. Stay out of the woods with atherectomy, and yes, an invasive physician should do these kinds of things. More incomes, let's see usually not made by medical office staff, mostly made elsewhere. Can America really do this?