Let’s get the bad news out of the way: more Americans between the ages of 40 and 65 are reporting elevated stress, chronic pain, and generally poorer physical and mental health compared to the same age group in the 1990s.
Between managing financial and workplace stressors, caring for children and other family members, and navigating the increasing complexities of their own health issues, millions of American adults are left Googling mystery symptoms and wondering if long-term wellness and relief are even possible.
The good news? Not only is long-term relief possible; it’s more attainable and effective than ever before. Let’s take a look at how newer, comprehensive lab testing methods can help us understand what’s really going on inside our bodies, and how these insights are reinventing modern health and treatment options.
The Power of Lab Testing in Aging and Wellness
Lab tests are crucial for understanding how our bodies function, especially as we age. They can help identify a wide range of imbalances, deficiencies, or medical conditions that may not yet show clear symptoms, but are nonetheless affecting your overall health.
While lab testing alone won’t likely resolve your health concerns, it’s part of a multi-pronged approach to care, ensuring that every aspect of your health is carefully considered.
Comprehensive Testing and Personalized Treatment
Think of holistic care like a three-legged stool:
- The foundation of your care plan is built on your full medical and health history, including details about your lifestyle, genetic predispositions, and health concerns;
- The second leg of the stool is comprehensive lab work, which provides objective, measurable insights into your body’s current state;
- And the third leg is the experience and expertise of your healthcare provider, who brings both knowledge and a personalized perspective to your care.
“Doctors are making an educated guess based on your symptoms, but it’s very helpful to have concrete, objective data with lab values,” says Dr. Keith Starwalt, an Adult-Gerontology Acute Care Nurse Practitioner. “Even if you’re not currently having any symptoms, getting a good baseline of how your labs look now when you’re not really having any issues…can offer a good comparison down the road.”
This balanced approach creates stability, resulting in a wellness plan that is not only customized to your unique needs, but also based on a solid, well-rounded foundation. Lab testing isn’t just about finding problems–it’s about creating tailored solutions within a reliable, proven framework.
What Can We Learn From a Comprehensive Lab Panel?
Whether it’s the occasional night sweat, creeping weight gain, or some excessive hair shedding, we as humans don’t always notice these things as part of a growing pattern or set of symptoms.
Fortunately, certain health conditions related to aging and hormonal changes can be uncovered through lab testing. These conditions may not always be obvious, but they can have a significant impact on your daily life and long-term well-being.
Menopause and Perimenopause in Women
Many women are shocked to learn that symptoms of perimenopause and menopause can emerge as early as their thirties, and the transition can feel isolating and overwhelming. Wide-ranging symptoms like debilitating fatigue, hot flashes, rapid weight gain, mood swings, and sleep disturbances are common, but they don’t have to be accepted as “just part of getting older.”
Using comprehensive hormone testing, doctors are increasingly able to pinpoint the hormone levels or imbalances that are contributing to these symptoms for their patients. Identifying these markers can then lead to key personalized treatment options beyond symptom management, such as hormone replacement therapy (HRT).
This, coupled with a tailored care plan and strategic lifestyle adjustments, can supercharge women’s health and leave them feeling stronger than ever.
Low Testosterone in Men
Testosterone plays a crucial role in men’s physical and mental health. As men age, testosterone levels naturally decline, which can lead to symptoms including fatigue, weight gain, low libido, and depression.
As a result, many men who’ve never before struggled with their health or self-image are often left feeling shame and isolation on top of their physical symptoms.
Fortunately, clarity is more attainable than ever. Modern blood tests can provide valuable insights into whether low testosterone is contributing to any of these changes. From there, expert care providers work in partnership with their patients to develop a plan that may include testosterone replacement therapy, dietary modifications, and other strategies for optimizing strength and wellness.
Weight Gain and Other Aging-Related Conditions
As we age, it can become increasingly difficult to maintain a healthy weight. Sometimes changes in metabolic function, thyroid function, or insulin resistance are at the root of these challenges.
Lab testing can reveal whether thyroid imbalances, elevated glucose levels, or hormone conditions contribute to weight gain. With the increasing number of weight loss medications and supplements on the market, it’s more critical than ever to understand the “why” of a particular patient’s weight gain in order to identify the most effective solution.
Gut health issues and food allergies are also common but often unnoticed sources of discomfort and inflammation as we age. Blood and stool tests can help patients identify what may be aggravating their digestive function and dramatically improve quality of life.
Lifestyle and Lab Testing: A Partnership for Long-Term Wellness
While we’ve listed just a few common examples here, the main takeaway is that modern lab testing has developed far beyond simply informing a patient that their cholesterol is too high.
Labs play a key role in telling the story of your body. And if we know the story of your body up to this point in your life, that can help us define how to make that next chapter even better.
As new tools and technology continue to emerge, the best healthcare providers will set themselves apart by demonstrating their commitment to truly improving the lives of their patients, not just managing symptoms.
The new era of healthcare is about offering meaningful wellness solutions that allow you to be the best, strongest version of yourself, not convincing you to accept that unnecessary pain is “just part of getting older.”
We can do better. You can feel better.
Learn More About Labs
For more information about how lab testing works or how it can benefit you, visit our resources page here.
