A blood test can be used to check for nicotine. The reasons for this can vary, but nicotine is an indication that a person smokes, which can have a large impact on a person's health. This information can be of interest to insurance agencies and...
Drug testing has become a way of life in our culture. It is now required with many job applications and for participation in school athletic programs. Testing for marijuana most often consists of a urine test, according to the Centers for Disease...
Many organizations require drug screening, whether you're applying for a job, seeking child custody or in other situations. According to Laxmaiah Manchikanti, M.D., and colleagues in their article for "Pain Physician," some...
Getting a new job, adopting a child or satisfying a probation officer may require a drug test--usually a urine test. People who don't use illegal drugs will usually test negative. But some prescribed and over-the-counter drugs can yield a...
False positive results are uncommon on pregnancy tests; false negatives are much more common. Certain medications can cause a false positive result on blood test or home pregnancy tests. Pregnancy tests measure levels of human chorionic...
Whether a woman is trying to conceive or would rather not, one of the concerns foremost on her mind around the time of her expected period is whether she's pregnant. While determining pregnancy used to require a trip to the doctor's office and a...
Positive pregnancy tests don't always indicate that conception has occurred. In some instances, false positives occur completely unrelated to pregnancy. Several medical conditions can cause the production of human chorionic gonadotropin, or HCG,...
Urinalysis, or UA, tests are typically conducted to screen for illness as well as to check for illegal drugs in your system. Many employers regularly use urinalysis tests to ensure that their employees are clean and sober, which can make the...
Drug screens, or tests that detect the use of controlled or illicit substances, are becoming increasingly popular at schools and in workplaces. Companies hope to identify drug use to curb increased health care costs, absenteeism, accidents and...
Pregnancy tests detect the presence of a specific hormone that is produced by a woman's body when she becomes pregnant. This hormone is human chorionic gonadotropin or hCG. While you can rely on the results of most pregnancy tests, there are...
On the average, 0.2 percent of ELISA tests give a false positive HIV test result that are then proven incorrect by a Western Blot test, notes Goaskalice.com, the Columbia University student health website. Autoimmune diseases, recent vaccinations,...
Positron emission tomography (PET) is an imaging modality used to acquire a three-dimensional image of the body. A pet scan is obtained by injecting a combination of a radioactive isotope and glucose. This imaging technique is most useful for...
Drug testing is the practice of screening urine or blood samples for the presence of illegal drugs. These screening tests are routinely performed by schools, parents and companies for the purpose of determining if those tested are abusing...
Drug testing, also known as toxicology screening, may be done in two ways. A way that is commonly used is to look for substances in the urine. When a urine sample is analyzed for illegal use of drugs, however, it is important to be aware that...
At some point in your life you may suffer muscle deterioration, because it is a normal consequence of aging, inactivity and injury. This loss of muscle tone, also referred to as atrophy, is reversible with strength training and activity, however,...
Many organizations require drug testing for a myriad other reasons, whether job applicants or current employees. But there are problems with testing. For example, urine drug tests may yield false positives, meaning the person tests positive but is...
Early pregnancy is often accompanied with a host of symptoms, including nausea, fatigue and sore breasts. These are often the indicators that pregnancy has occurred, prompting women to make an appointment with their gynecologist or family...
Vanillylmandelic acid, or VMA, is a substance found in the urine of a child who has a type of abdominal tumor called a neuroblastoma. The VMA test was once used to diagnose another type of tumor – pheochromocytoma – but is now a...
Fishfinders are based on World War II sonar technology that has been adapted to sense lunker bass rather than submarines. While there are many different makes and models of fishfinders on the market, all share some common uses and configurations....
Some people whose urine tests positive for tetrohydrocannabinol--THC--are shocked to be told they failed the drug test for marijuana, which they've never used. According to pharmacologist Karen E. Moeller and colleagues in their 2008 article for...
Laboratories perform tests on blood samples and measure the results against accepted ranges. Results are used to diagnose illness, measure medication levels, help employers make hiring decisions and indicate the presence of drugs and alcohol for...
Rheumatoid arthritis is an auto-immune disease that affects around 1 to 2 percent of people overall, with the incidence rising to 5 percent in women over age 55, according to rheumatologist Alan Matsumoto, M.D., of Johns Hopkins Arthritis Center....
HIV, or human immunodeficiency virus, is a sexually transmitted disease that results in the deterioration of the person's immune system. While HIV does have visible symptoms, the only way to diagnose an HIV infection is through a blood test. The...
Each year, millions of men and women deal with the issue of infertility--the inability to conceive after a year of unprotected sex. While medical procedures can help many couples conceive, there are simpler alternatives that can dramatically help...
When you ingest pharmacologically active substances, your body generally breaks them down in order to use them. The break down or use of these substances will produce chemical left overs called metabolites. Metabolites can be excreted or stored in...
Electronic fetal monitors help medical personnel track the health of a laboring mother and her baby in the womb. Fetal monitors are especially useful in high-risk pregnancies. The technology has some drawbacks, including false positives that may...
Drug testing is done routinely before new employment is begun and randomly at times when testing seems warranted. Most drug tests, also known as toxicology tests, evaluate for amphetamines, cocaine, marijuana, opiates such as heroin and PCP. False...
Over 200 types of products have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to test for drug use, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. These tests vary in the methods they use, what drugs the tests can detect and...
Screening mammograms are the gold standard for detecting breast cancer. The paramount benefit of regular screening is finding cancer early at its most treatable stage. There are conflicting recommendations as to what age to begin screening and how...
