GPs are vampires, aren’t they? Always taking your blood for some reason.
Apparently, there’s even a new blood test around to diagnose depression – though it will be years before it’s available.
But some blood tests are surprisingly inaccurate – and not all conditions appear in a blood sample.
Here are ten examples.
1. DEMENTIA: It’s not your blood that gives the game away.
It’s your symptoms, plus the doc asking you some simple questions to test your memory and brain power.
Even then, it can be hard to know if it is really dementia or just normal “senior moments” — so you may be monitored over time to see if you are getting worse.
2. PARKINSON’S DISEASE: Again it is the symptoms — the shaking, stiffness and general slowing up — that make the diagnosis. A special scan may help confirm it but blood tests do not.
3. MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS (MS): You’ll probably end up having blood taken but that is to check for other problems which can look like MS. The final verdict depends on your pattern of symptoms and specialised tests such as scans.
4. RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS: There is a blood test for “rheumatoid factor”, which gives a helpful clue. But it proves nothing. Some people with rheumatoid arthritis have a negative test and vice versa. Docs make a diagnosis from your symptoms — persistently painful, swollen and stiff joints, usually affecting both sides of your body.
5. PROSTATE CANCER: Yes, there is a blood test available, the “PSA”, which can show signs of possible cancer.
But it comes with a heap of ifs, buts and maybes. A positive test can have other causes. A negative one does not rule out cancer, either.
Also, no one has proven for sure that PSA testing is worthwhile, so you should get some written information to help you decide whether to go ahead with the test.
6. CHRONIC FATIGUE SYNDROME (CFS): It is exhausting just thinking about
different possible causes of tiredness.
Some, like stress, don’t show on a blood test. Others, such as diabetes, anaemia and thyroid problems do. Once all these possibilities have been crossed off, you might get diagnosed with CFS. But there’s no specific test for it.
7. FIBROMYALGIA: As with CFS, the reason you donate a syringe-full of blood is to rule out other causes of persistently painful muscles.
If the results draw a blank and there is no other likely explanation, such as the side-effects of statins, you may be told you have fibromyalgia.
8. IRRITABLE BOWEL SYNDROME (IBS): You probably will have some blood tests for your dodgy tummy. But they don’t “prove” you have IBS.
They simply help rule out other problems that mimic it, such as inflamed bowel or gluten intolerance.
Depending on your age and symptoms, you might need other tests such as a telescope up your bowel. Once other possibilities have been excluded, you’ll know for sure if it is IBS.
9. EPILEPSY: A blood sample cannot tell if you have epilepsy. Even the specialist’s tests, such as scans and brain traces, prove nothing.
What your doc really needs is a witness account or even a video of one of your “fits”.
10. BIPOLAR: Forget blood tests — it’s all in your symptoms. That applies to just about every psychiatric condition.
Blood samples are no help, except maybe in depression. Not now, though.
Sometime in the future.
So don’t join the blood-letting queue yet — it will just make you even more fed up.
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