Blood tests are an important medical diagnostic tool, because your blood carries a range of substances, cells and DNA that can be used to indicate if you have a medical problem.

While many things can be diagnosed by other means, there is a long list of reasons that a pharmacy blood test could show if you have an issue that needs tackling.

The NHS has a list of conditions that blood tests can help diagnose. This includes high cholesterol and high blood sugar, with the latter being a test for Diabetes. Chromosome tests can help diagnose genetic abnormalities, while cancer tests are often best determined by blood tests, which can detect prostate and ovarian cancer proteins.

Other reasons can include checking your blood type, which will be important if you are thinking of giving blood, since this means medics will know what type you are going to be donating. Some blood groups are in shorter supply than others so this can be particularly useful to know if you are going to be helping in an area of scarcity.

All these are good reasons to have tests and it may be that a routine test will help show up a problem at an early stage before symptoms start to manifest. For conditions like cancer, an earlier diagnosis can literally mean the difference between life and death, or at least spare you more gruelling and lengthy treatment.

However, some people can be reluctant to get a test, partly through fear of what it may reveal, but also due to trypanophobia, a fear of needles. 

This can leave many struggling with fear, panic, dizziness, extreme emotion or fainting. However, our staff are used to dealing with patients who struggle in this way and if this is your situation, they will take all the time and every step necessary to make you feel comfortable.

Indeed, after such treatment you can breathe a sigh of relief and agree it wasn’t too bad after all – which will make it all a lot easier to deal with next time you need a test.