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Friday Jun 06, 2008

Home health testing kits

Let's be honest, going to the doctor is a bit of a drag. The idea of testing yourself for something you're convinced you have sounds very tempting. But in reality, are the tests reliable enough? I'm known among my close friends and family for being a bit, well, over dramatic, when it comes to my health. When my other half told me about Spike Milligan who wrote 'I told you I was ill' on his gravestone I actually laughed so hard and for so long he thought I had totally lost it. So did the other people on the train. But it sounded just like something I could imagine wanting to say back to people who didn't believe me when I told them my worries (mild diabetes was the last one – this turned out to be a hormonal sugar craving, phew!) Then there's my early arthritis (sleeping on a mattress on the floor syndrome) Anyway...

So when I published the latest two articles on Home health kits and DIY STI kits it got me thinking how if I was to do a bowel cancer test, for example, and it came up abnormal, how would I react? I would probably be demanding an emergency doctor's appointment there and then! But why go through the trauma of testing at home in the first place? The result I may or may not get could in fact not even mean I have cancer and so I would have spent an unimaginable night or two panicking that my days were numbered. It's seriously not worth the stress. But when it comes to STI kits, I guess these can be a bit more helpful if it's for conditions that won't kill you, but at the same time how far do you go? Is getting an HIV test result through the post the best way of dealing with things if it's bad news? I think for the majority of us, if we're looking for answers we should see the experts first, especially if you're that worried about it that you've sought a home testing kit in the first place. Save money and get good advice exactly when you need it, that's what I say!

Posted by Julia ( 1:25 PM ) Link to this post  |  Comments[0]