Abilities in home tracking have come along a lot in the last few years. At-home, finger-prick blood tests mean that you can test various health indicators yourself. The question is why?
What can you learn from tracking your own blood?
Companies like Thriva offer a variety of home blood tests. There’s a huge wave of people now tracking ongoing key health indicators such as cholesterol, liver function and vitamin deficiencies. These factors, which lifestyle often has a dramatic impact on, can all be improved quite easily. The real value arrives in long-term tracking whereby, you can see changes happen in your blood and adjust your lifestyle before they become problems.
How are blood tests relevant to me?
There are a number of blood biomarkers which relate to the symptoms of those who suffer from bladder and bowel conditions. Whether you suffer from either bladder or bowel conditions, there are various blood tests you can do at home which can help in better understanding your condition.
If you are diabetic, there’s a strong correlation with needing to urinate more. The hba1c test will examine your risk for diabetes, and so you can see if you need to then pursue further diabetes testing.
Various factors can affect bowel conditions either as the cause itself or amplifying others. Liver function, iron levels, as well as thyroid function all have strong links to bowel problems and so are worth examining. All of these biomarkers (from hba1c to liver function, iron levels to thyroid) can be tested with home finger-prick blood tests.
How do home finger-prick blood tests work?
The tests require you to prick your own finger using a lancet and then drop several drops of blood into a tube. This sample is then posted off to a lab and analysed. The results will then be returned to you either via post or in the case of a company like Thriva via an online dashboard with GP insights and health recommendations.
How accurate are they?
Even though when you visit the doctor at your GP surgery or in hospital, they take a lot of blood in a vial, you don’t actually need that much for these tests. The number of biomarkers measured in a finger-prick blood test usually only requires around 40 uL of blood for accuracy. Yet, the blood tests – to ensure the accuracy – will collect at least 400ul, or around 10 drops of blood.
10% off your first home blood test
We’ve teamed up with Thriva to offer you 10% off your first finger-prick blood test. Just click on the link and the discount will automatically be applied to your order.
Thriva is a flexible subscription, which you can pause, cancel or delay at any time.
Author – Josh Lachkovic, Thriva
