Blood Tests

[hisnameiszzz]

Hi.

You know when you go for a blood test and they want to test for diabetes or whatever, why do they take about 5 vials?

I have studied biology and from what I remember, you only need a drop or two to do a test for one thing. So technically if you were testing for five things you would need about ten drops.

So what happens to all the blood in the other vials?

Forgive me for being thick if this question sounds really daft.

Thanks.

[BilalKid]

ask ur doctor

[BeTheChange]

Asalamualykum,

Sorry not sure on this but like BilalKid has advised best to ask your doctor/nurse why they have taken so much blood.

Hope it all goes well for you Ameen.

[hisnameiszzz]

Haha. Like the Doctor is going to tell me why they take 4 times as much blood as they should be doing.

I think they probably put it into blood donor collections without the patients consent. But that's what I think.

Thanks for your replies.

[Aisha]

^I don't think that's the case. Donated blood is checked, sorted into blood type, the platelets are separated.. I don't think small vials would be of much use as blood doesn't have a very long shelf life.

Different tubes have different coloured caps, used for different tests. That's all there is to it.