VII.1.2. ROUTINE LABORATORY TESTS

No-one should forget, regardless of one’s knowledge surrounding the meaning of some lab test results, their clinical interpretation and diagnosis should only be undertaken by a medical doctor.

The lab tests that we call routine laboratory tests are undertaken periodically, usually once a year. The number and the frequency of these tests are regulated in many countries by their respective Ministries of National Public Health. In some cases, the employees’ routine lab tests are also regulated by the companies or institutions that specialise in particular areas.

The routine lab tests are usually limited in number, often due to financial reasons, and are relatively similar in most countries. In some countries, it is almost impossible to have a particular test if this does not form part of the routine lab tests list, or it is not specifically requested by the general practitioner. On the other hand, usually the individual does not have access to their own results – the medical labs issue test reports directly to the general practitioner.

The routine laboratory tests can indicate:

- one’s general state of health

- the GP’s decision to commence prophylactic intervention, especially where tests show the onset of disease albeit  without any worrying signs and symptoms

- the GP’s diagnosis and recommendation to start therapywhere incipient disorders are detected

- the GP’s decision to refer the patient to specialist clinics,where the disorder is beyond the general practitioner’s intervention capabilities.

We will not present here a list of tests that are undertaken as routine laboratory tests in Romania, nor in other countries, their importance is the same throughout the world. However, we will discuss the necessity of adding SPE and ionized calcium (Ca⁺²) to the list of routine lab tests and we will endeavour to prove their predictive, diagnostic and monitoring potential. We will also try – and we believe we will convince you – to bring enough arguments regarding the necessity to discuss and adopt other normal values for the total proteins (TP) from blood plasma, as well as those of serum proteins (SP), determined through SPE.

As we have learned from patients that sought the services of Apitherapy Medical Center, SPE and Ca⁺² are not routine lab tests in their country of origin. The countries concerned were Romania, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Israel, Spain, Portugal, Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, United States of America, Canada, England, Ireland, Republic of Moldavia etc. We will gladly make available to any specialist who wishes to visit us the medical documents kept in our database, which were presented to us by our patients.