Home health testing kits

[Bangkokbaby]

Are these available in Thailand? I live in Bangkok. I'm looking for something like the SureSign All In One Family Health Screening Tests http://www.suresign.com/family-health.html. You pee on the strip and they give an indication of any health issues such as urinary tract infections or heart/kidney/liver problems. I went to my local pharmacy and he doesn't know of anywhere that sells them.

If anyone knows where I can buy them then please let me know.

[Sheryl]

No, not available here and do not do as much as you may think anyway. These test for only the following:

nitrates (useful indeed for checking for bladder infections, but not something one needs to do unless there are urinary symptoms or fever)

specific gravity - mainly just tells you if dehydrated which you can already assess just from urine amount and color

protein - is abnormal if present and may indicate a certain type of kidney disease but there are other kidney diseases in which there will not be protein. Not a substitute for blood test of kidney function (creatnine)

blood - presence in urine can mean many things, some of them benign (e.g. recent sexual activity, menstruation). Not always present in kidney disease, see above.

urobilinogen - presence may indicate a gall bladder or liver problem but it will be there only once serum bilirubin levels hit a certain point, serum bilirubin (blood test) is an earlies/ more sensitive indicator. Will only have elevated bilirubin in some types of liver/gall bladder problems (obstructive jaundice), not all. Not a subsitute for blood tests of liver vfunction (AST/ALT)

None of these things relate to the heart.

In short, this test would miss far more problems than it could possibly detect and might create a dangerous sense of false confidence.

A basic health screening with blood tests of kidney and liver function, anemia, urinalysis, and screening for diabetes and dyslipidemias can be had easily in Thailand for as little as 2,000 baht and is a much better idea.

[sunnyjim5]

IMHO this is a product aimed at the worried well and its use could easily result in a false sense of security. Missing important screening for problems such as diabetes devalues the product and no part of the test provides any information about cardiac well being.

The advert is at least misleading if not dishonest.

These tests do not and cannot replace a clinically based health screen which is available at low cost (see above) here in Thailand