DR DHAND ADVISES BLOOD TESTS
And Be Your Own Doctor
I don’t go to the Doctor. I BUY my own Blood Tests: Here's why
“I do this every 12-18 months and don't want to visit a regular Doctor”
Dr. Dhand's Website: https://www.drsuneeldhand.com — Dr. Dhand's Natural Supplements: https://www.ojaiswellness.com — Dr Dhand’s MetThrive Method Health Transformation Program: https://www.metthrive.com — Dr Dhand Free Substack Newsletter Sign-Up
SUMMARY OF TESTS:
1 Complete blood count (CBC) — 2 Complete metabolic panel (CMP)
3 Glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) — 4 Fasting insulin level — 5 Vitamin D level
6 Iron level — 7 C-reactive protein level (CRP) — 8 Lipid panel
9 Thyroid function (if low, followed by T3 and T4 levels)
10 Magnesium and phosphorus levels — 11 Testosterone level (for Men)
(TRANSCRIPT)
Hi everyone, Dr. Suneel D, Internal Medicine physician, welcome to another video on crucial blood tests to get. As I've said many times before, I have no interest whatsoever in regular healthcare interactions. I go outside of the system and get my own blood tests done every 12 to 18 months or so. That really says something because, since I arrived in the United States, I have excellent healthcare insurance, and the blood tests would all be paid for. But what am I going to do? Get the blood tests done and then sit down with a regular primary care doctor who barely has any time with me and is going through a tick box of questions to ask? They won't get to know me. They will mindlessly go through their protocol as they have to do within our current system, and then they will want to throw all of their recommendations at me, including injections. No thank you. I would rather think things through myself and be my own doctor.
Of course, I understand that everybody doesn't have this advantage. I'm a physician myself, and I know what crucial blood tests to get every 12 to 18 months or so. In countries like the United States and United Kingdom, it's very easy to order your own blood tests. You don't need a doctor's order, and I've used various companies in the United States, including Quest, but there are many facilities in most areas.
I get blood tests done every 12 to 18 months or so. Of course, everybody is different, but here are the blood tests that I routinely get, and I wanted to share these with you in this video:
The complete blood count or CBC (I believe they still call it FBC in the United Kingdom). This looks for crucial components in the blood, including hemoglobin (are your red blood cells at an adequate level), white cell count (which is a marker of infection or inflammation; it goes up if you have either of those), and also platelets, which are a crucial component of the blood involved in clotting.
A CMP (complete metabolic panel). This is different from a BMP, which is more basic and will only tell you the kidney function and the electrolytes, including sodium and potassium. But a complete metabolic panel also includes liver function tests, very important to regularly get those checked. Also included in that are your protein levels and your calcium levels.
HbA1c or glycosylated hemoglobin. This is a test for insulin resistance, pre-diabetes, and diabetes, and it gauges blood sugar levels over a 3-month period.
A fasting insulin level. Not many doctors will tell you this, but fasting insulin levels are just as, if not more, important than glucose levels. A fasting glucose level will be on your CMP blood test, by the way. These blood tests should be done first thing in the morning fasting, hopefully you already know that. A fasting insulin level coupled with a fasting glucose level will enable the calculation of the HOMA-IR, which is a very important calculation for insulin resistance syndrome. We don't use it anywhere nearly enough, and I've made videos about this crucial blood test before.
A vitamin D level. Millions of people out there are walking around with suboptimal vitamin D levels. We all know that vitamin D is important for strong bones, but it is also extremely important for good metabolic and immune health. So a good idea to check a vitamin D OH(D) level regularly, particularly if you live in the Northern Hemisphere.
An iron level. I'm a big fan of checking iron levels because many people out there, especially females, are iron deficient. They have iron deficiency anemia.
CRP level (C-reactive protein). I've made videos about this before, but this is an excellent test. It's underutilized for detecting generalized inflammation within the body. There are specific forms of CRP, but a general C-reactive test is usually a good one to get to basically screen for underlying inflammation. People who have inflammatory disorders or an infection particularly will have elevated CRP.
A lipid panel, also known as a cholesterol blood test. I put this way down the list because I'm not a huge believer in the lipid cholesterol hypothesis. I believe we're way too aggressive at treating this, and we focus on band-aids and treating numbers rather than getting at the root cause of the problem. But nevertheless, it's still a good test to get. It should be fasting ideally, and the blood test will enable us to see what the total cholesterol is, the triglycerides, the LDL (low-density, quote-unquote "bad" cholesterol), and HDL (the high-density "good" cholesterol). All of those will show up on this blood test.
Thyroid function. Your thyroid gland is involved in a multitude of different bodily processes, and if your thyroid isn't working properly, that can manifest in a number of different ways. Starting off typically with a TSH blood test, that's the initial test for thyroid function (thyroid stimulating hormone), and if that is abnormal, then we do more tests including T3 and T4 levels.
Two other very important electrolytes to get are magnesium and phosphorus. A lot of people out there are walking around with low magnesium and low phosphorus levels, and in my opinion, it's a very good idea to get a baseline measurement to see what the numbers are and whether any supplementation is required.
Testosterone levels. This is an important blood test for men of all ages to check because, for a number of reasons, testosterone levels are decreasing across the board, primarily due to the environment. A toxic food environment and also other environmental factors are leading to testosterone levels decreasing, and particularly if any man out there is having symptoms including lethargy, then testosterone is a good idea to check.
So those are some blood tests that I consider very important to check. Of course, everybody is different. Some people may need other blood tests, some people may need blood tests less frequently, some people may need blood tests more frequently. But because so many people have asked me, "When you go outside the system, what blood tests do you consider important?" I wanted to share that video with you.
Thanks, everyone, for watching. Feel free to comment down below. Check out my free guide, "10 Ways to Stay Away from Doctors," with a focus on metabolic health. That link is down below. Also, check out my website and my newsletter. All the links are down below in the description.