Procedures

Ankle/brachial blood pressure index

Any one of the various procedures used in identifying the specific allergens. Such tests are helpful in prescribing treatment to prevent allergic reactions or to reduce their severity. The most common allergy skin testing, which exposes the patient to small quantities of the suspected allergens. Factors considered in performing allergy tests include the medical history of the patient, the allergy history, the environment, and the diet. Individuals to be tested are usually instructed to discontinue the use of any antihistamines at least 24 hours before the test because these drugs can interfere with normal test responses.

The recording of a patient’s blood pressure at regular intervals under normal living and working conditions.

An evaluation that is taken on a yearly basis in order to determine whether or not any abnormalities and/or medical conditions are present. Annual examinations may include general physical check ups, blood work, urinalysis, and more.

Anxiety is a multisystem response to a perceived threat or danger. It reflects a combination of biochemical changes in the body, the patient’s personal history and memory, and the social situation.As far as we know, anxiety is a uniquely human experience. Other animals clearly know fear, but human anxiety involves an ability, to use memory and imagination to move backward and forward in time, that animals do not appear to have.

Drawing blood is one of the most important medical procedures. It represents the basis of diagnostics and it helps establish the current health condition of a patient. If a person is performing biochemical analysis, such as determining sugar level, cholesterol, triglycerides, iron, he needs to avoid eating any food 12 hours before the procedure.

The day before drawing blood, the patient needs to eat lighter food up until 18h. After 18 o’clock, it is possible to drink liquids, except for alcohol, coffee, and sweet beverages. This is a must, given that food intake can increase the level of measured parameters. Drawing blood is also known as Venipuncture, the puncture of a vein, usually to withdraw blood.

Also known as lung function tests. Pulmonary function tests, or PFTs, measure how well your lungs work. They include tests that measure lung size and air flow, such as spirometry and lung volume tests. Other tests measure how well gases such as oxygen get in and out of your blood. These tests include pulse oximetry and arterial blood gas tests. Another pulmonary function test, called fractional exhaled nitric oxide (FeNO), measures nitric oxide, which is a marker for inflammation in the lungs. You may have one or more of these tests to diagnose lung and airway diseases, compare your lung function to expected levels of function, monitor if your disease is stable or worsening, and see if your treatment is working.

A yellowish or brownish waxy secretion produced by vestigial apocrine sweat glands in the external ear canal. Also called earwax.

We work in collaboration with Labcorp and Quest Diagnostic, depending on your insurance.

A drug test is a technical analysis of a biological specimen, for example, urine, hair, blood, breath, sweat, or oral fluid/saliva—to determine the presence or absence of specified Parent drugs or their metabolites. Major applications of drug testing include detection of the presence of performance enhancing steroids in sport, employers screening for drugs prohibited by law (such as cannabis, cocaine, and heroin ) and police officers testing for the presence and concentration of alcohol (ethanol) in the blood commonly referred to as BAC (blood alcohol content). BAC tests are typically administered via a breathalyzer while urinalysis is used for the vast majority of drug testing in sports and the workplace.

A commonly used, noninvasive procedure for recording electrical changes in the heart. The record, which is called an electrocardiogram, shows the series of waves that relate to the electrical impulses, which occur during each beat of the heart.

A Holter monitor is a battery-operated portable device that measures and records your heart’s activity (ECG) continuously for 24 to 48 hours or longer depending on the type of monitoring used. The device is the size of a small camera. It has wires with silver dollar-sized electrodes that attach to your skin. The Holter monitor and other devices that record your ECG as you go about your daily activities are called ambulatory electrocardiograms.

The process of rendering a subject immune, or of becoming immune. Protection of susceptible patients from communicable diseases by administration of a living modified agent (for example, yellow fever vaccine), a suspension of killed organisms (for example, pertussis vaccine), a protein expressed in a heterologous organism (for example, hepatitis B vaccine), or an inactivated toxin (for example, tetanus).

Procedure that measures the speed at which impulses move through the nerves.

Previously endemic throughout much of the developing world, viral hepatitis now ranks as a major public health problem in industrialized nations. The three most common types of viral hepatitis (A, B, and C) afflict millions worldwide. Acute viral hepatitis is characterized by varying degrees of fever, malaise, weakness, anorexia, nausea, and abdominal distress.

Urinalysis is a diagnostic physical, chemical, and microscopic examination of a urine sample (specimen). Specimens can be obtained by the normal emptying of the bladder (voiding) or by a hospital procedure called catheterization.

Urinalyses are performed for several reasons:
general evaluation of health
diagnosis of metabolic or systemic diseases that affect kidney function
diagnosis of endocrine disorders. Twenty-four-hour urine studies are often ordered for these tests
diagnosis of diseases or disorders of the kidneys or urinary tract
monitoring of patients with diabetes
testing for pregnancy
screening for drug abuse
Urine collected eight hours after eating and at least six hours after the most recent urination is more likely to indicate abnormalities.

The use of ultrasonic waves for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes, specifically to image an internal body structure, monitor a developing fetus, or generate localized deep heat to the tissues. The use of these ultrasonic waves creates an image that can be observed in order to make conclusions.

Breast examination (Women’s wellness):
Defined as inspection and palpationof the breasts and related areas.

Pap Smear (Women’s wellness):
A test for cancer in which a smear of exfoliated cells is specially stained andexamined under a microscope for pathological changes. Also called Pap test.

Birth control (Women’s wellness):
projects, programs, or methods to control reproduction, by either improving or diminishing fertility.