Labs and diagnostics

The number of neutrophils, the white blood cells that fight bacterial infection, in a set amount of blood.

The body's control of how acidic or alkaline the blood is, keeping its pH in a narrow normal range.

Describes bacteria with a waxy cell wall that keep a red stain even after an acid-alcohol wash, as the germ of tuberculosis does.

A state in which the blood is more acidic than normal, with a pH below 7.35.

A blood test that measures, in seconds, how long it takes blood to clot through one pathway of the clotting system.

A hormone from the pituitary gland that tells the adrenal glands to make cortisol.

A microorganism that lives and grows where there is oxygen; an obligate (strict) aerobe cannot grow without it.

An enzyme found mostly in the liver, measured in the blood as a test of liver cell health.

The main protein in blood plasma, made by the liver, which holds fluid inside the blood vessels and carries drugs and hormones.

An enzyme made mostly in the liver and bones, measured with a blood test.

A state in which the blood is less acidic than normal, with a blood pH above 7.45.

A protein made by the fetal liver, measured in a pregnant person's blood as a screening test, and in adults as a tumor marker.

A waste product of protein breakdown that the liver normally changes into urea; its blood level is measured in a lab test.

A test in which a needle is put through the belly into the uterus to take a sample of amniotic fluid.

An enzyme made mainly by the pancreas and salivary glands that breaks down starch; its blood level is a lab test.

A microorganism that grows without oxygen; an obligate anaerobe is killed by oxygen, and a facultative one grows with or without it.

A lower than normal number of red blood cells or amount of hemoglobin in the blood.

An imaging test that shows blood vessels by injecting a contrast dye and taking x-ray, CT or MRI pictures.

A number calculated from blood electrolytes, sodium minus chloride and bicarbonate, that helps find the cause of metabolic acidosis.

A blood test that measures how strongly heparin or a similar drug is blocking clotting factor Xa.

A natural protein in the blood that slows clotting, also made into a medicine.

A blood test from an artery that measures oxygen, carbon dioxide, bicarbonate and the blood's pH.

A measure of how acidic or alkaline the blood in an artery is, reported on an arterial blood gas.

Puncture of a joint with a needle to draw out fluid, to test it or to relieve pressure.

An enzyme found mainly in the liver, heart and muscles, measured in the blood as part of liver function tests.

A hearing test that measures how loud sounds of different pitches must be for the person to hear them.