Dr. Joan Delyse Waters

Northern Colorado's naturopathic gastro doctor serving Fort Collins, Windsor, Greeley, Loveland and surrounding areas

Call 970-482-2010 or click here to reserve your space. 

We are located upstairs at 3950 JFK Parkway #2 Fort Collins, CO  80525

Basic screening blood tests

For the convenience of my patients, I draw blood in my office.  I will often draw basic screening blood tests on all new patients, unless they have had them done recently elsewhere.

If a patient has not had labs drawn recently, I usually order the following:

Complete blood count (CBC) with differential - to evaluate for the presence and type of infection (bacterial or viral), anemia, or an elevated mean corpuscular volume (MCV) which would suggest a B6, B12 or folate deficiency or the inability of the body to utilize one of these nutrients.

Comprehensive metabolic panel (CMP) - to evaluate the level of fasting blood glucose, kidney and liver function.

Thyroid panel -including thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), free T3, free T4 and anti-TPO antibodies - to assess the function of the thyroid gland and for auto-antibodies to the thyroid.

hs-CRP (high sensitivity CRP) - to measure the level of inflammation in the body.

Homocysteine - to assess inflammation level and to evaluate for possible dysfunction in the methylation pathway.

Vitamin D - to assess level of this nutrient since many people who don't supplement with Vitamin D are deficient in it.

Serum B12 - one of several markers used to assess for B12 deficiency or for the inability to utilize B12.  If serum B12 is elevated and the patient is not supplementing or if it is low, I may run additional tests.  When combined with other tests, this is a cost-effective way to measure B12 status.

Hemoglobin A1C - to obtain a 3-month average blood glucose measurement.

If I suspect insulin resistance, I may test the patient's insulin level in the first visit as well.

If the patient, based on their reported symptoms, appears to have an imbalance in their sex hormones, I may do a hormone panel in the first visit as well.

As a functional medicine doctor, I utilize lab results not only to identify and treat illness, but also to prevent illness and to optimize the health of each patient.  All care received at Practical Health Solutions, LLC is individualized to each patient.  The tests listed above are the ones I frequently order, but may vary based on what is needed for each patient that I see.