testing Archives - Pentucket Medical

We are pleased to announce a nine-bay drive-thru Covid-19 testing site located on Canal St in Lawrence.

This testing site is a collaboration between Lawrence General Hospital, Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, and Pentucket Medical/ MassGeneral-Brigham Health in response to the growing need for testing in the community.

The initial phase of testing will include LGH patients who are scheduled for upcoming procedures, area healthcare workers, symptomatic residents, and non-area residents who meet the following criteria:

Individuals referred through official contact tracing
Patients 65 years of age and older with symptoms
Patients with underlying conditions with symptoms
Homeless individuals
Health care facility workers with symptoms
First responders with symptoms

Please note that a prescription is needed from your primary care physician in order to be screened. Once that is received an appointment will be scheduled.

CDC Symptom Checker:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

Hours of operation:
Monday – Friday from 9 am – 5 pm
Saturdays from 10 am – 2pm
Sundays from 9 am – 1 pm

Diabetes can be caused when a person has high blood sugar or because the body isn’t responding properly to insulin. All types of diabetes are treatable, but it’s important to keep an eye on hemoglobin levels, LDL levels and blood sugar levels if you are diabetic.

Self-testing blood sugar levels regularly is extremely important for the following reasons:

Prevent long-term complications from diabetes
Gauge how well your treatment is working
Understand how different diet changes affect your levels
Understand how illness affects your blood sugar levels

How often you need to test your blood sugar depends on the type of diabetes you have.

For type 1 diabetes, your doctor may suggest testing your blood sugar levels three or more times a day after meals or exercise. If you are taking insulin for type 2 diabetes, it’s recommended that you test one or more times a day, depending on how much insulin you are using.

Testing Hemoglobin Levels

A hemoglobin A1c test is a test that shows how well diabetes is being controlled. The test provides an accurate estimate of your average blood sugar levels throughout a two or three month period. When used in addition to an at-home blood sugar test, diabetics are able to effectively monitor their diabetes to ensure it’s under control. Normal hemoglobin levels for people with diabetes is around seven percent, which is about two percent higher than someone without diabetes.

Why do I Need to Test Cholesterol when I have Diabetes?

When you have diabetes, you are also at a higher risk of heart disease. Monitoring cholesterol, especially LDL levels, are important when it comes to preventing heart disease later on in life. There are two ways to test cholesterol levels,

including:

A non-fasting test which will show total cholesterol level and can also show you HDL levels, which is the “good” cholesterol.
A lipid profile, or fasting test, which measures triglycerides, LDL, HDL and total cholesterol.

Contact our office for information on testing blood sugar, hemoglobin and cholesterol levels.

Tag: testing

Lawrence Community Covid-19 Testing Center

What Tests Should I be Running Regularly if I have Diabetes?

Testing Hemoglobin Levels