DIY Blood Tests
March 14, 2018 9:52 AM Subscribe
I would like to monitor a particular blood stat more closely than once or twice a year. I can use AnyLabTestNow (or some similar service), but they're still pretty spendy. When I was a kid, we did A/B/O blood testing in science class (I assume they no longer do) but clearly, at least for some tests, it's something a 12-year old with clean hands, an alcohol wipe and a lancet can do.
Where's a good place to figure out whether the stat I want to monitor, is the subject of a relatively simple, DIY test? And to purchase test kits and any equipment I might need?
I wouldn't consider it DIY-able if I needed to tap a vein or somehow get more than a few drops of blood, but I wouldn't balk at spending a few hundred bucks on a (probably used, probably out-of-certification) test reader machine, or buying a case of test kits for a grand or two.
I don't care about repeatability on certified equipment -- my numbers don't have to match a professional lab. I just want to plot what happens more frequently. If my numbers are 20, 50 or even 1000% off, that's fine, as long as they're consistently off. (If they're just random, then I can get those numbers easier and cheaper!)
Where's a good place to figure out whether the stat I want to monitor, is the subject of a relatively simple, DIY test? And to purchase test kits and any equipment I might need?
I wouldn't consider it DIY-able if I needed to tap a vein or somehow get more than a few drops of blood, but I wouldn't balk at spending a few hundred bucks on a (probably used, probably out-of-certification) test reader machine, or buying a case of test kits for a grand or two.
I don't care about repeatability on certified equipment -- my numbers don't have to match a professional lab. I just want to plot what happens more frequently. If my numbers are 20, 50 or even 1000% off, that's fine, as long as they're consistently off. (If they're just random, then I can get those numbers easier and cheaper!)
If it's the count of a particular cell in the blood (ie white count, red cell count, etc) it should be fairly easy with a microscope
If it's the level of a particular electrolyte or hormone, almost impossible without spending a lot of money
Would you be willing to share what kind of think you're looking to measure, if you're not happy to share the specific thing, it would make it easier to answer your question
posted by DrRotcod at 2:52 PM on March 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
If it's the level of a particular electrolyte or hormone, almost impossible without spending a lot of money
Would you be willing to share what kind of think you're looking to measure, if you're not happy to share the specific thing, it would make it easier to answer your question
posted by DrRotcod at 2:52 PM on March 14, 2018 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: Thanks, PubMed got me into a useful part of Google Space, so I was able to find what I needed. Looks like it'll take a refrigerator, shaker plate, and colorimeter machine (which is probably the most expensive part). Plus random pipettes and stuff. But at least it's not a radioactive assay (which I actually did as an undergrad, in a more relaxed day & age!)
Now that you mention it, we did microscope CBCs in high school, too.
posted by spacewrench at 3:26 PM on March 14, 2018
Now that you mention it, we did microscope CBCs in high school, too.
posted by spacewrench at 3:26 PM on March 14, 2018
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posted by exogenous at 10:14 AM on March 14, 2018