Healthcare Industry

While workers in health care and emergency response are particularly at risk, there are numerous occupations that carry the possibility of coming in contact with blood-borne pathogens, such as...

Hypertension, or high blood pressure (BP), is a dangerous condition in which your blood puts excess force on the blood vessels it travels through. High BP can lead to heart disease, among other...

Hypertension (or high blood pressure) can cause a variety of health problems, including heart and kidney disease. Hypertension can also be a sign of several health conditions, such as diabetes....

Life insurance is a good way to ensure that family members will have enough money to cover expenses that you may leave behind in the form of unpaid bills and funeral costs. Obtaining life...

Many people feel old. Some look old. You don't have to feel or look old. There are measures you can take to look and feel ten years younger.

Platelets are one of the components of whole blood and are essential for normal clotting of blood. When platelets are decreased in number or functionally abnormal, the ability to form a clot is...

Diabetic ketoacidosis is a serious complication of diabetes in which blood sugar raises to abnormally high levels, often due to illness or a lapse in insulin therapy. As blood sugar rises, the...

Blood pressure cuffs are instruments used in the diagnosis and treatment of blood pressure and heart conditions. A few different kinds of manual blood pressure cuffs and many brands of digital or...

Minoxidil is used to treat hypertension in people who have not responded to other therapies and can even be used in low doses for the treatment of male pattern baldness. Taken orally, the drug...

Blood plasma is full of protein that is used to create life-saving therapies for individuals who are chronically ill. The protein in the plasma helps the blood to clot and also helps the body to...

"White coat syndrome" and "white coat hypertension" are terms used to describe blood pressure results that are higher at a health-care provider's office than at home. Patients may feel stress or...

The thymus is a small gland under your breastbone in the upper part of your chest. The thymus is responsible for making a certain type of white blood cell before birth and during childhood---these...

A Medline sphygmometer, more commonly known as a blood pressure cuff, is a device used to indirectly determine a person's arterial blood pressure. It consists of an inflatable cuff, a gauge that...

Taking blood samples from the capillaries--the small blood vessels close to the skin--is a common way to obtain accurate measurements of concentration of glucose, or sugars, in the blood....

Heparin is an anti-coagulant that prevents the formation of blood clots in the veins, arteries and lungs, and is also used after surgery to reduce the risk of blood clots. It can be administered...

One of the most important parts of managing diabetes is monitoring blood-glucose levels. The glucose meter has come a long way over the years and now makes home-monitoring of blood glucose by the...

Butterfly needles, also known as winged infusion sets, are a very common needle style used to collect blood during a venipuncture. The butterfly needle consists of the stainless steel collection...

In 1938, Charles Drew, an African-American resident at Columbia University Hospital, recognized that separating a liquid portion from whole blood called "plasma" would make blood transfusions...

Used mostly to test for diabetes and blood sugar related conditions, blood glucose tests read a blood sample and quantify its glucose levels. Blood glucose levels must remain in balance, because...

Collecting blood from the femoral artery in the groin area is less common than collecting blood from other arterial sites, such as the radial artery at the wrist or the brachial artery in the...

A well organized phlebotomy tray is one of the single most important things a phlebotosit can have in order to make a venipuncture go smoothly, quickly and without pain. Organzing a phlebotomy...

Compression stockings are commonly used to treat problems with blood circulation in the legs. A study was done at St. Cloud Hospital in Minnesota to determine whether knee-high compression...

Arterial blood gas analysis is a lab test that measures how much oxygen is carried in your blood. Blood is collected from an artery, rather than a vein as in regular blood collection, as newly...

Heparin is an anticoagulant drug used to prolong the coagulation time of whole blood in the treatment and prevention of blood clots in the veins, arteries and lungs. Bleeding precautions must be...

The palpatory method of taking blood pressure is performed by using only a blood pressure cuff. It reads the systolic measurement, or the measurement of the heart at work. The palpatory method is...

Stem cells are unique in their ability to differentiate into any other specialized type of cell. Unlike normal cells that are genetically programmed to develop into a particular type of mature...

Before donated blood can be given to a hospital patient it must first undergo a series of tests to prevent transfer of diseases. If the blood is found to carry a disease then it is discarded and...

Phlebotomists, or lab assistants that collect blood as well as other tissue and fluid samples for lab tests ordered by your physician, use specialized tools and equipment throughout the course of...

Many different types of life support machines are available. Most involve machinery of some kind. One form of life support is the ventilator, which is designed to force air into the patient's...

In order to provide fluid, take blood measurements or give nutrition, insertion of a CVP line or central venous pressure line might be necessary. The procedure, performed by a doctor, involves...

The digestive or gastrointestinal (GI) tract consists of the esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large intestine or colon, rectum, and anus. GI bleeding can occur anywhere along the digestive...

'Whole blood' is the most common form of blood donation and is important to do. But did you know there is also an urgent need for people to donate blood platelets? It's safe and simple to do. You...

Tests to determine alcohol levels in the blood are performed frequently in a hospital facility. They are also done in other settings to test for the presence of alcohol in a person's bloodstream....

Phlebotomy, the act of drawing blood, is a specialized skill that is needed in the medical field. There are many different places you can work as a phlebotomist, such as independent laboratories,...

A potential aggravating factor for your hectic lifestyle, Angiotensin II, can prove to be of real harm if not gauged from time to time with aide of investigative procedures like, blood tests. It's...

Medical technologists and technicians, working in medical laboratories, perform a variety of tests and procedures that assist in the diagnosis of patients. Procedures may be performed on blood...

A phlebotomist is a medical professional who draws blood from patients for laboratory testing or blood donation. Phlebotomists are among the most vital staff members of a hospital or medical practice.

Blood plasma is the fluid portion of circulating blood, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In the United States, the donation of plasma and the overall safety of...

Medical laboratories perform a variety of tests and procedures to assist physicians in diagnosing patients. A typical laboratory may employ skilled professionals who carry out procedures on blood...

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advise the use of "universal precautions" to prevent the spread of bloodborne pathogens, or disease. The universal precautions minimize...

Anticoagulant, also known as blood thinners, may be a natural or a synthetic agent that suppresses, delays or prevent clots (masses of blood cells) from forming in your bloodstream. Some of the...

Blood plasma donation is a fast-growing practice that can earn donors up to $50 a week as of 2009. The donation process takes longer than a typical blood donation and is more involved. Blood is...

Diagnostic imaging is a critical facet of health care. It allows physicians to diagnose patients without resorting to exploratory surgery. Ultrasound is an imaging modality that uses a safe form...

Ultrasound is a safe imaging modality that is used to form images of structures within the body. Unlike X-ray, ultrasound uses non-ionizing radiation in the form of sound waves. Ultrasonography...

Blood alcohol content, or BAC, is one of the most commonly used ways of determining not only if a person has been drinking alcohol, but also how much alcohol a person has consumed. Although a...

If given using standards of protocol, a blood transfusion can save lives. But it is of the utmost importance that a blood transfusion be given correctly and safely; otherwise, the consequences...

"Sono" refers to sound, and "graph" refers to an image. Sonography is the use of sound waves to form an image. Ultrasound is sound at the frequency of 20,000 hertz or more. These high-frequency...

Angiogenesis is a biological process where new blood vessels grow from ones already in place. During our lifetime, this physiological development takes place countless times during our...

Your kidneys, a major component of your urinary system, are delicate organs that can be damaged by any number of conditions. Kidney disease is often called a silent killer because it can be...

Phlebotomists, or phlebotomy technicians, are medical professionals that are trained and licensed to draw blood. Phlebotomists work in a variety of settings, from blood banks to hospitals, and...