2005 SERIES ARTICLES

Complementary and Alternative Medicines: The Dirty Dozen Laboratorians Should Know
By Catherine A. Hammett-Stabler, PhD, DABCC, FACB, and Amitava Dasgupta, PhD, DABCC, FACB
December 2005

Complementary and alternative medicines—approaches to healthcare not covered by conventional medicine—have become increasingly used by the general population in recent years. Although popular, many of these alternative therapies have not been evaluated for effectiveness or safety, and clinicians and laboratorians should be aware of the possible use of these products by their patients.

Antinuclear Antibody Profiles: The Lab’s Role in Diagnosing Systemic Rheumatic Disease
By Carol L. Peebles, MS, MT (ASCP)
November 2005

Diagnosing systemic rheumatic disease can often be a long and unclear process because patients often don’t present a clear pattern of symptoms, and because there is a wide and confusing range of autoantibodies that could be the problem. Although no one lab test can define a specific diagnosis, antinuclear autoantibody profiles can be used by clinicians to distinguish between antibodies and make a more specific diagnosis.

Point-of-Care Testing: Moving Toward Evidence-Based Practice
By James H. Nichols, PhD, DABCC, FACB
October 2005

Point-of-care testing can produce faster test results, and ultimately earlier and more effective use of therapies, but when used incorrectly it can be risky for the patient involved. To address this issue, the NACB developed the Laboratory Medicine Practice Guideline to review point-of-care testing procedures, with the ultimate goal of improving patient management.

Heavy Metals: Toxicity and Testing for Today’s Labs
By John A. Butz and Mary F. Burritt, PhD
September 2005

Heavy metals can be very toxic at relatively low levels, making their detection not only vitally important, but difficult to do with accuracy. Clinical labs will always be responsible for providing accurate analysis of patient samples in order to determine the best course of treatment, and it is important for laboratorians to understand how to detect the most common heavy metal contaminants.

Blood Gas Measurements: It’s All About Quality Control
By Lawrence J. Crolla, PhD, Thomas Maley, and Jacques Brunelle, PhD
August 2005

Quality control of blood gas measurements is especially important in point-of-care situations, emergency rooms, and other critical care settings when decisions must be made without the benefit of related lab results. Understanding revised CLIA guidelines is a vital step toward following quality control procedures and ensuring compliance on all blood gas instruments.

Diabetes Disease Management: Differentiating Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes
By William E. Winter, MD
July 2005

Proper classification of an individual’s diabetes requires several lab tests and careful analysis of the results. Laboratorians can aid clinicians by providing appropriate testing guidelines for the diagnosis, treatment, and management of both forms of diabetes.

Nutritional Assessment: An Opportunity for Laboratorians to Improve Health Care
By Elia Mears, MS, MT (ASCP) SM
June 2005

It’s no secret that poor nutrition in the U.S. is having a detrimental effect on the health of the population. Although generally handled by dieticians and nurses, a dietary assessment is an excellent way to gauge patient health, and laboratorians will increasingly become involved in these assessments.

Metabolic Syndrome: What Lab Tests Should Be Used for Assessing Patients?
By Sridevi Devaraj, PhD, DABCC, FACB, and Eric Miguelino, MD
May 2005

Metabolic syndrome is a constellation of factors that physicians have determined promote the development of atherosclerosis and increase the risk of cardiovascular events. Diagnosing this syndrome is dependent on several common laboratory tests, so clinical labs will play an important part of evaluating and monitoring patient health as this syndrome continues to become more prevalent.

Quality in Health Care: How Can Labs Improve the Total Testing Process?
By Stephen Kahn, PhD, DABCC, FACBB
April 2005

Medical errors are responsible for thousands of deaths in the U.S. every year, and it is the responsibility of labs and hospital to constantly focus on ways to improve patient safety.  In order to do this, laboratorians needs to become familiar with, and implement, a quality system model that be successfully utilized in their lab.

Wellness Assessment: What Role Can Laboratorians Play In Maintaining Patients’ Health?
By Joseph Knight, MD
March 2005

A wellness assessment is a panel of tests that can be used to not only evaluate a person’s current health, but calculate one’s potential future health risks in an effort to practice preventative medicine. Laboratorians are in a unique position to help shift the current healthcare model from one that focuses almost entirely on disease diagnosis toward wellness assessment, a move that could potentially make healthcare more efficient, less costly, and improve the quality of life for everyone.

B-Type Natriuretic Peptides: Analytical and Clinical Considerations
By Fred S. Apple, PhD
February 2005

Assays for the B-type natriuretic peptie (BNP) have quickly become a standard diagnostic tool for diagnosing congestive heart failure, and studies have begun to appear showing that BNP could also be an accurate marker for acute coronary syndrome. Use of BNP assays and a similar assay, N-terminal-proBNP (NT-proBNP), could be used in conjunction as prognostic markers for a variety of cardiac conditions.

Coagulation Monitoring: How Labs Can Meet the Demand for Point-of-Care Testing
By Tak-Shun Choi, MD
January 2005

The demand for point-of-care coagulation testing as soared in recent years, both in hospital and home testing situations. This demand has led to a new generation of sophisticated coagulation diagnostic instruments that laboratorians can use to deliver fast and accurate test results.