6 tests that could save your life

Most of us are unaware of the health risks that lurk around us. Fortunately, there are tests that can help predict the risk of adverse health effects before any symptoms appear.

Here are some of the most important tests and why they could save your life.

1. Corus CAD

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women. More than 1.2 million people in the United States are expected to have a heart attack this year. Although there are warning signs and risk factors, heart disease can strike anyone.

Heart attacks and other heart diseases occur when the coronary arteries become clogged with fatty deposits, leading to coronary artery disease (CAD). Until recently, there was no way, other than traditional imaging tests, to assess the health of your arteries. Imaging tests are often invasive and expose the person to radiation, limiting their use. But a new test is changing that.

Cardio Dx's Corus CAD is a gene expression test that uses messenger RNA from a gene in blood cells to determine whether a patient has a coronary artery blockage. Patients are given a score on a scale of 1 to 40 after the blood test. A score between 1 and 15 indicates a low chance of a blockage. The higher the score, the more likely the person has a blockage. This allows your doctor to take preventative measures and schedule follow-up tests that could save your life.

Who should get tested:Any non-diabetic patient with typical or atypical symptoms of coronary artery disease - regardless of age.

2. High sensitivity C-reactive protein test

This may be the first time you’ve heard of C-reactive protein (CRP), but it has been studied for many years. CRP is a well-known marker of inflammation. CRP is important because all cardiovascular disease manifests as chronic, low-grade inflammation.

A high-sensitivity C-reactive protein test is often sensitive enough to detect low levels of CRP and help determine a person's risk of heart disease before any symptoms appear. In the future, doctors also hope to use the test to help prevent strokes and predict the success of a heart transplant.

Who should do:The test may be useful for certain people: People with inflammation from another condition, injury, or even a cold won't get an accurate reading. Only healthy people with an average risk of heart disease should get the test. If you're wondering how aggressively you need to reduce your risk, a CRP result may be helpful.

3. Comprehensive cardiovascular risk profile

There are silent risk factors that make heart disease so scary. But recently it has become quite easy to detect and change these risks.

The traditional method of testing cholesterol is about 15 years out of date. Many people with low cholesterol have heart disease, while many people with high cholesterol do not have heart attacks. Doctor's Data's comprehensive cardiovascular risk panel is a simple blood test that looks at 17 cardiovascular risk indicators. When combined together, they provide a very accurate assessment of risk.

There are three subtypes of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) that are much more predictive of cardiovascular disease than measuring LDL alone. In addition to looking at the LDL subtypes, the test looks at markers of inflammation, insulin resistance, and oxidation. Abnormal results are presented as “What is it, what does it do, and how can I lower it?”

Note:The doctor's database has a variety of other innovative tests, including a full-digestion stool analysis that can be extremely helpful for anyone with digestive problems.

Who should do:People over 40 years old; people with family history.

4. Early lung CDT test

Lung cancer is the deadliest cancer in the world and has a five-year survival rate of only about 16%. This is largely because 85% of cases are diagnosed at a late stage, when treatment is no longer effective. That is changing with a new blood test called EarlyCDT-Lung from Oncimmune that can help detect the disease early.

A simple blood test measures autoantibodies produced by the immune system in response to lung cancer proteins. Autoantibodies can form as early as four years before a tumor can be seen on a CT scan. The results are highly accurate, with only a 7% false positive rate. If autoantibodies are detected, follow-up CT scans are performed every 6-12 months until a tumor is seen. Our goal is to detect a tumor when it is the size of a pea or smaller, rather than when it is the size of a golf ball or larger.

In theory, this approach could be used for any solid cancer tumor, and Oncimmune plans to launch a similar test for liver cancer in the near future and one for breast cancer.

Who should do:High-risk patients (smokers, former smokers) between the ages of 40 and 75 should be tested every two years.

5. PSA blood test and rectal exam

Prostate cancer is the leading cancer in men, but the mortality rate is quite good thanks to early screening.

Prostate screening includes a digital rectal exam, in which the doctor feels for a hard mass or lump through the rectal wall, and a PSA blood test. The blood test looks for high levels of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in the blood (an indicator of prostate cancer).

Who should do:Any man over 50 or over 40 with a family history of prostate cancer.

6. Colonoscopy

Colonoscopy every 10 years remains the gold standard for early detection of bowel cancer. The transition from a normal colon to one with large polyps is a very slow process. Early detection of polyps can save lives.

Who should do:Anyone over 50 - earlier if there is a family history.

According to Dantri