Wellness Evaluation

April 8, 2009 by Simon
Filed under health

Your Individual Wellness Evaluation is described below, the being performed, the methods used & the reason why they are taken.

Once the tests are complete they will be analysed by our computer software and presented to you in a comprehensive report.

Your Cholesterol

Measuring cholesterol involves a simple blood test. You will be asked not to eat for 10 hours before the test so that your food is completely digested and doesn’t affect the test. A blood sample will be taken by using a finger prick. The test measures the total amount of cholesterol, HDL (good), LDL (bad) & Triglycerides. This level can vary from day to day, or even during the day, so a series of tests may be needed if your doctor has any worries that your results may be high. Further testing may be done to measure the exact amounts of the various different types of lipoprotein. The units used to measure blood levels of cholesterol are mmol/l – or millimoles per litre

Blood Sugar Levels

This test is performed to diagnose either type of diabetes

To check your blood sugar level, a small amount of blood is put on the strip. This is then placed into our device. After about 30 seconds it will display the blood glucose level.

Blood pressure measurement

To take a blood pressure reading, you need to be relaxed and comfortably seated, with your arm well supported. Alternatively, you can lie on an examination couch.

A cuff that inflates is wrapped around your upper arm and kept in place with Velcro. A tube leads out of the cuff to a rubber bulb.

The actual measurements taken are the maximum pressure (systolic) and the lowest pressure (diastolic) made by the beating of the heart.

The systolic pressure is the maximum pressure in an artery at the moment when the heart is beating and pumping blood through the body.
The diastolic pressure is the lowest pressure in an artery in the moments between beats when the heart is resting.

Also your resting heart rate will be recorded

Your Body Fat Composition

Measuring body fat percentage is an easy method of discovering correct body weight and composition. Beneath the skin is a layer of subcutaneous fat, and the percentage of total body fat can be measured by taking the ‘skinfold’ at selected points on the body with a pair of callipers. This test only requires four measurements

Using the Durnin/Womersley Caliper Method

Triceps – the arm midway between the shoulder and the tip of the elbow
Biceps – the front of the upper arm
Subscapula -just below the shoulder blade.
Suprailiac – just above the hip bone

However, if you prefer a hip & waist ratio can be measured instead by using a tape measure.

Waist-hip ratio or Waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is the ratio of the circumference of the waist to that of the hips. It measures the proportion by which fat is distributed around the torso.

Your weight & Height

These measurments are used to calculate your Body Mass Index

weighing scale (usually just “scale” in common usage) is a device for measuring the weight of an object. These scales are often used to measurethe weight of a person

The height will be measured using a clinometer where you stand underneath and the bar lowered until it lies flat on top of the head. A reading is then taken

Lung Function

Spirometry is the lung function test done. It measures how much and how quickly you can move air out of your lungs. For this test, you breathe into a mouthpiece attached to a recording device (spirometer).

The lung function values measured with spirometry are:

Forced vital capacity (FVC). This measures the amount of air you can exhale with force after you inhale as deeply as possible.
Forced expiratory volume (FEV). This measures the amount of air you can exhale with force in one breath. The amount of air you exhale may be measured at 1 second (FEV1), 2 seconds (FEV2), or
Peak expiratory flow (PEF). This measures how quickly you can exhale. It is usually measured at the same time as your forced vital capacity (FVC).

Flexibility – Sit & Reach

This test involves sitting on the floor with legs out straight ahead. Feet (shoes off) are placed with the soles flat against the box, shoulder-width apart. Both knees are held flat against the floor by the tester. With hands on top of each other and palms facing down, you’ll reach forward along the measuring line as far as possible. After three practice reaches, the fourth reach is held for at least two seconds while the distance is recorded.