Common Medical Tests

Common Medical Tests

A Large number of laboratory tests are widely available. Many tests are specified for a particular group of diseases. Generally, specialised tests are described with the appropriate diseases in here. However, many tests are used commonly in many specialities and in general practice.

Screening Tests: 

           are used to try to detect a disease when there is little or no evidence that a person has the disease. For example, measuring cholesterol levels helps identify the risk of cardiovascular disease, but these tests are performed for people who have no symptoms of cardiovascular disease. To be useful, screening tests must be accurate, be relatively inexpensive, pose little risk, and cause little or no discomfort. 

Diagnostic Tests:

          on the other hand, are used when a disease is suspected. For example, a doctor who suspects serious heart disease might recommend cardiac catheterization. This test would not be a good screening test because it is expensive, can produce side effects, and is uncomfortable. However, all of these drawbacks are outweighed by the need for this test when disease must be evaluated.

Every test, whether used for screening or diagnosis, has some risk. The risk may be only the need for further testing if the result is abnormal, or it may be the possibility of injury during the test. Doctors weigh the risk of a test against the usefulness of the information it will provide.