Dr. Vincent Pedre, founder of Pedre Integrative Health in New York City and a clinical instructor at Mount Sinai, explains the health tests that are needed for maintaining optimal health.

Health Test Life Calendar

Fasting Glucose Test
It's important to have your blood sugar tested to find out if you're diabetic. This should be a fasting blood test, and is a routine part of lab work during a check-up. People who are 20 years and older should have it done every three years. Glucose (sugar) comes from carbohydrates and sweets. Your fasting blood sugar should be less than 100 mg/dl. If it is 101-125 mg/dl, it is considered impaired glucose tolerance and you may be pre-diabetic. Diabetes is when the fasting sugar is greater than 125 mg/dl.

Blood Lipids Test
Your fasting cholesterol should be checked every five years. With this test, you must fast for 8 hours before having your blood drawn. Cholesterol is needed for the formation of healthy cell membranes, formation of sex hormones, and as a precursor to vitamin D. 

A fasting cholesterol test checks for the levels of two kinds of cholesterol in your blood: "good" cholesterol and "bad" cholesterol. It's important to make sure you don't have too much of the bad kind. HDL (high density lipoprotein) is the so-called good cholesterol. It helps the body recycle cholesterol back to the liver, thus cleaning the system of the more harmful LDL (low density lipoprotein) particles. 

LDL is the so-called bad cholesterol. What makes it bad is that it tends to accumulate on the insides of the arteries, causing atherosclerosis and coronary artery occlusion, which can lead to a heart attack. Similarly, plaque in an artery in the neck can also dislodge and travel to the brain where it can cause a stroke.

Vitamin D Level
Ask to have your Vitamin D levels checked (specifically, your Vitamin D 25-OH levels, since they are the most stable and will give you the most accurate level). About 50 percent of adults and 30 percent of children and teenagers are deficient. 

Vitamin D deficiency is becoming an epidemic in the Northern latitudes, and may be a risk factor for osteoporosis, as well as breast and colon cancer. Low levels are being linked to cardiovascular risk factors such as hypertension, obesity, and diabetes. This is true for both men and women, and can also be a source of depression. The sun is a main source of Vitamin D.

TSH (Blood Test)
All women should get their thyroid function checked. Ask for a TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) test. If this test turns out normal and you feel chronically tired, ask to be checked for thyroid antibodies and have your T4 and T3 checked. You may have subclinical hypothyroidism.

Clinical Skin Screening
Every year, there are approximately one million new cases of non-melanoma, 60,000 new cases of melanoma, and 11,000 deaths due to skin cancer. You should have a full-body skin screening once a year. Throughout the year, individuals should look for moles that are dark in pigment themselves. If you see a dark mole, you should take a digital photo of it every six months and compare.

Dr. Vincent Pedre Life Advice
Many patients forget the name of the medications they're allergic to, and this is very important for your doctor to keep on record. Be sure to write down the name of the medication, and keep in a safe place. 

Medication errors are the eighth leading cause of death. Some of these errors are due to adverse drug effects that a person had experienced in the past and should have been avoided. Whenever you have an adverse reaction to a medication, you should write the name of the medication down. A lot of times, the name of the drug will be forgotten when the person goes for future appointments with a new doctor. It's a small detail, but it may go a long way in reducing disability or discomfort related to a disease.

Special Thanks
Special thanks to Dr. Vincent Pedre for sharing this educational information on these important health tests.