Essential Blood Tests for Men and Women

Your bodily fluids, like your blood and urine, carry enzymes, proteins, hormones, and even bacteria that tell a detailed story about your health. Certain things about your blood will never change — like your blood type, or whether or not you’re a hemophiliac. Other substances found in your blood, like hormones, fluctuate naturally over time or can be impacted by environmental factors. Cholesterol, protein, vitamin, and sugar levels can also change, and if they reach abnormal levels can serve as a warning that something is wrong. 

Blood tests are a crucial component of diagnostic and preventive care — they can catch diseases in their early, most treatable stages. They can also help you establish a baseline for your health, one that you and your provider can refer back to over the years to see how your body changes over time. Here are some essential blood tests for men and women, to help you keep better track of your health. 

Blood Panels for Women

Most lab tests are for everyone — however, certain hormones and biomarkers are expressed differently in men and women. These tests below are essential for women to stay on top of their health, and monitor their risks for certain diseases.

Comprehensive Metabolic Panel

The Comprehensive Metabolic Panel is used to assess metabolic and organ function, with a focus on the liver and kidneys. Comprehensive blood test panels for females are often ordered during routine exams and wellness checks, to screen for underlying conditions while they are still treatable. Tests like the GFR female blood test and the glucose test, both of which are included in this broad-screening panel, should be administered annually, to catch kidney problems before they progress. 

Diet Panel

The Diet Panel focuses primarily on your cholesterol and thyroid health. It also evaluates vitamin, hormone, and blood sugar levels. Your thyroid is responsible for producing several of the hormones your body needs to carry out important functions, including hormones that regulate stress and metabolism. An over- or underactive thyroid gland can lead to unexpected weight loss or weight gain, and even issues with your heart. 

Cholesterol levels can tell you a lot about your risk for heart disease or stroke. Thyroid health and heart health should be monitored annually, and this panel checks for both. It also includes a testosterone test. Testosterone blood tests for women can be used to screen for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) or other fertility issues. Hormone panels and blood tests for women are relevant at any stage of life, but become especially important after 30, when the risk for reproductive issues increases. 

Comprehensive Female Panel

This is one of the most broadly screening panels available. It includes cholesterol tests, blood health tests, vitamin tests, female hair loss blood tests, and even evaluates hormones used in conjunction with fertility blood tests for women. The Comprehensive Female Pane lincludes a complete urinalysis test, a Comprehensive Metabolic Panel, a Complete Blood Count, a Lipid Panel, and more. It is one of the most effective blood tests a woman can get annually to thoroughly assess her health and monitor changes. 

Blood Panels for Men

Heart disease, cancer, and diabetes are among the most common issues in men’s health in the US. Blood tests for men screen for these diseases, monitor organ function, and even include blood tests for male infertility. Below are some of the most common and helpful hormone panels and other blood tests for male health. 

Lipid Panel

The Lipid Panel evaluates your cholesterol levels and how they change from year to year. While cholesterol is necessary for the development of cells, tissues, and organs, as well as hormone production, too much cholesterol can cause plaque to build up in your blood vessels, significantly increasing your risk of heart disease and stroke.

This is one of the most common types of blood tests for men and women, though men are more likely to struggle with high cholesterol. Tests in this panel include: 

• Low-Density Lipoprotein (LDL) – Often referred to as “bad” cholesterol
• High-Density Lipoprotein (HDL) – Often referred to as “good” cholesterol
• Triglycerides – Excess fats in the blood stream
• Very Low-Density Lipoprotein (VLDL) – High amounts of VLDL indicate a higher risk of heart disease
• Total Cholesterol – A measurement of all types of cholesterol

Fitness Panel 

If you want to evaluate heart health as well as cholesterol levels, and learn how you might be able to increase your muscle development, the Fitness Panel can help. This panel contains all the tests included in the Lipid Panel, and also measures your glucose levels and hemoglobin A1C. These tests can be used to evaluate heart and kidney health, and be used to screen for pre-diabetes. Women can also find this test extremely beneficial.  

The male testosterone blood test included in this panel is one of the blood tests used to check male fertility, and a common blood test for men for IVF evaluation when couples experience difficulty conceiving. However, testosterone also helps produce muscles and bone. If you’re hitting the gym and not getting the results you want, testing levels of testosterone along with vitamin D, another key player in muscle development, might help you learn what extra steps you can take to optimize your workout.  

Comprehensive Male Panel (CMP)

The tests in the Comprehensive Male Panel screen for heart disease, diabetes, and prostate cancer, as well as hormone and cholesterol levels and metabolic health. This panel screens for a wide variety of diseases and cancers common to men that are often treatable when discovered in their early stages. 

The panel also includes a GFR blood test for men, tests that evaluate the thyroid and blood sugar levels, tests that measure liver enzymes, and all the tests found in the Comprehensive Metabolic Panel. 

Hormone Tests 

There are many hormone tests for both men and women. Estrogen and prolactin blood tests for men can be important, despite those hormones being mostly associated with women. Abnormal levels of these hormones can inhibit sperm production, and may even be a sign of an underlying condition. Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) blood tests for men or women can also reveal problems with the pituitary gland, hypothalamus, testicles or ovaries, or could reveal infertility. Male hormone test blood panels can be just as important for finding the root of infertility as hormone tests for women. 

Early Screening Saves Lives

Health and wellness panels can help you and your provider find illnesses and abnormalities before they spread. Getting annual checkups and staying up-to-date on your preventive health could save your life, and can also save you money by preventing the need for costly surgeries and treatments down the road. The costs of hormone or other blood tests for men or women is always transparent and up-front on Tripment.com.