
Maintaining your health involves a lot of tools and moving parts. Whether receiving urgent care X-rays in Atlanta or getting immunized at your annual physical, preventative medicine and tests help patients and doctors treat conditions. One such lab test, stool tests, detect abnormalities in stool samples provided by the patient.
What are stool samples, how do they work, and how can patients prepare for them?
A stool sample is a small amount of feces collected and tested in a laboratory. Urgent care and primary care doctors in Atlanta use these stool samples to perform various medical tests.
Stool samples are commonly used to diagnose various diseases and conditions, such as infections, inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), digestive problems, and cancer.
Stool samples are essential because they can provide important information about a person's health.
For example, a stool sample can be tested for the presence of certain bacteria or parasites, which can cause infections or other health problems. Healthcare professionals can also use stool samples to diagnose conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) or cancer.
In addition, stool samples monitor the effectiveness of specific treatments, like those for bacterial infections or digestive disorders.
An urgent care or primary care provider can test stool samples for various diseases and conditions.
Some of the most common ones include:
There are several types of stool tests to diagnose various conditions or infections. Some common types of stool tests include the following.
This test looks for parasites and their eggs (ova) in the stool. Ova and parasite stool tests aim to diagnose infections such as giardiasis and amebiasis.
This test looks for small amounts of blood in the stool that are not visible to the naked eye. It can diagnose conditions such as colon cancer or inflammatory bowel disease.
This test identifies bacteria or other organisms in the stool. With a stool culture, urgent care doctors can diagnose infections like salmonella or E. coli.
This test uses DNA analysis to identify bacteria, parasites, and other organisms in the stool. The Stool DNA test’s chief function is to diagnose infections or other gastrointestinal problems.
If you suspect you have a problem processing dairy, you can use this test to diagnose lactose intolerance. Lactose intolerance is when the body cannot digest lactose, a sugar found in milk and other dairy products.
This test measures the amount of fat in the stool. The fecal fat test diagnoses conditions such as malabsorption, in which the body can’t absorb nutrients from food properly.
Yes, you can do a few things to prepare for the test.
By following these steps, you can help ensure that your stool sample is accurate and reliable for lab tests in Atlanta.
The process for collecting a stool sample at an Atlanta urgent care center is generally as follows:
It is essential to follow the instructions provided by the healthcare provider carefully to ensure that the sample is collected correctly. Proper handling will help ensure that the results of the test are accurate.
WestsideMed in Atlanta offers in-house lab testing, with a stool sample included, alongside urinalysis, rapid strep throat tests, and more. If you suspect you're suffering from a health issue requiring stool samples, contact WestsideMed today to start lab testing in Atlanta.