What Are Blood Tests?
By taking and testing a small sample of a person’s blood, doctors can check for many kinds of diseases and conditions. Blood tests help doctors check how the body’s organs — such as the kidneys, liver, thyroid, and heart — are working, and see if medical treatments are helpful.
Most blood tests take only a few minutes. They’re done at some doctor’s offices, and at community labs, diagnostic centers, and hospitals. A doctor, nurse, or phlebotomist (fleh-BOT-eh-mist, someone who is trained to take blood samples) will take the blood sample. Sometimes the sample is tested on-site; other times it will go to a lab.
Blood test results can be ready in a few hours or take a few days, depending on the test and whether the sample was sent to a lab.
What Are the Types of Blood Tests?
Some of the blood tests most often done are:
- allergy and autoimmune condition tests:
- basic blood chemistry tests
- basic metabolic panel
- lipid panel (cholesterol test)
- complete blood count (CBC)
- comprehensive metabolic panel
- a blood culture to check for germs
- blood tests to check for anemia and other blood cell problems:
- diabetes tests:
- endocrine system/growth/sexual development tests:
- liver tests:
- pancreas tests:
- thyroid tests:
- tests to measure levels of minerals and nutrients:
- STD testing
- other screening and diagnostic tests:
