Can you prick your finger for a blood test on your own? If you can, then bring a home medical testing kit to test your health in the comfort of your own home. Since the first home pregnancy kit hit the market, there is a further advancement in technology. That means now there exists a variety of self-screening tests.

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Find out about UTI, high cholesterol, hepatitis C, HIV, food allergies or colon cancer with the help of a home medical testing kit. Many tests can even help you in monitoring chronic conditions, such as diabetes and thyroid. You can purchase these self-testing kits from a drug store. Collect either a blood, urine, stool or saliva sample to test the conditions.

Diagnose yourself at home using blood to test illnesses such as coeliac disease, diabetes, and kidney disease; urine for pregnancy, STDs, and illicit drugs; and stool as a sample to indicate blood in it, as an early screening test for bowel cancer.

These home medical testing kits are helpful for those who have trouble getting to the lab. Even, it encourages people to get more engaged in their overall health. One must always follow up with a doctor to get a better understanding.

Popular home medical testing

1. Glucometers for Blood glucose test

Type 1 diabetic needs to check their blood glucose level regularly so that you can adjust your diet and medication. Testing seems necessary for type 2 diabetic too as most type 2 diabetes patients are not aware of their condition. Use glucometer available in the market to test the same.

2. Cholesterol checker

Using a cholesterol checker is important for those who are taking a cholesterol-lowering drug.  There is a need for checking cholesterol every 6-12 months to know whether the medications are helping or not. Timely checking can guide you to make lifestyle changes to improve the cholesterol level.

3. Cologuard for Colon cancer Screening

To detect colon cancer there are three available ways, but Cologuard is cheaper than others. Cologuard uses a stool sample collected by the patient and checks for hemoglobin. The major aim is to find DNA changes that indicate colon cancer or precancerous polyps in the colon.

4. At-home Hepatitis C Checker

The most common bloodborne infection where the virus attacks the liver. In this case, most people don’t know they’re infected because they don’t look or feel sick.  But the liver damage advances with the time and so does the symptoms. The home screening is beneficial for those who are at risk of developing the condition.

5. HIV test kit

HIV test kit can be beneficial for those who are at risk, such as those who are sexually active not in a monogamous relationship and who want to be tested in private. There are various kits available in the market.

6. Test UTI at home

Urinary tract infections can be very painful. Home medical testing kits can be a great way to detect UTI if the doctor is willing to give a prescription for antibiotics without seeing you. Else you may have to visit a doctor for a diagnosis. Regarding the at-home kits, there are various over-the-counter UTI home tests available in the drug store.

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Advantages of home medical testing

• Test your condition within your comfort zone.

• Early detection can lower the risk of future complications and chronic illnesses.

• You can monitor the chronic conditions at home

• Helpful for those people who can not manage to go to a lab for time-to-time screening.

Disadvantages of home medical testing

• The accuracy of the test might be compromised as some people might fail in following the instructions properly. For example: unable to get enough blood as a sample.

• May find difficulty in understanding some test results

• Like any other test, the result can be faulty if mishandled.

• Due to the wrong timing, some tests might not show an accurate result.

• Home medical tests are preliminary, it is necessary to follow up with health professionals.

• Some tests can be misleading or unreliable, tests like food allergy tests.

At the very least, you got the at-home medical test kits and got the result too, but what next? You still need to visit a doctor to get treated. The motive of this is not to decide changes on your own but to get regularly updated about your condition.

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