Lab testing has come a long way and in the recent past has had some groundbreaking innovations. It is important to note that we cannot live without this important service because not only is it essential in the diagnosis of diseases because it is very precise, it also helps solve cases of crime, resolve paternity as in the case of DNA testing and also is used in pathological studies. There is nothing else like laboratory testing to help sort out all of the chaos in our society. Let us look at some of the functions of lab testing below.
Disease diagnosis
There is no way a doctor can treat a disease without first identifying it. Not only do diseases have the same confusing characteristics, all of them produce almost the same symptoms. For example if someone came to you with a headache and fever, you might conclude he has malaria. This may or may not be true since other diseases like typhoid fever,migraine,severe cold or flu may also present the same symptoms.Furthermore,treating him for the wrong problem only aids the disease to progress to the next level and may even cause death. Other diseases enter the human body and remain asymptomatic for a long time with the end result being deaths from the end stage or advanced state of the disease. These include the HIV virus, some forms of hepatitis and syphilis can stay in the human body for years, without being diagnosed.
Resolving paternity
One of the most recent innovations in the recent past and perhaps the most important innovations. Paternity disputes never end. While some fathers would gladly hand the responsibility to someone else, some would fight to the death for their children. When push comes to shove and a court case develops, DNA testing comes in handy as it aids in the determination of who the real father is. This technique has been used all over the world to resolve disputes and reunite parents with lost children.
Case solving
Lab testing is somewhat more advanced in the western world where a scene of crime may produce plenty of evidence even when there was no witness. With scientific development now a person’s sweat molecules may be extracted from a yarn or fabric or from sitting on a surface. Other bodily fluids can also be used in the lab to solve cases. Even strands of hair can tell a long story about what happened in a crime scene. In recent years, hair experts can show hair that naturally fell off and that which was pulled off in a struggle, arguing that pulled off hair has damaged follicles.Lab tests
In the unfortunate cases of rape, the bodily fluids are collected and are able to solve the mystery of the identity of the rapists. Not only are a persons bodily fluids unique, they also cannot be the same with somebody else.That is why sniff dogs are given a cloth or other item of a criminal to pick out the scent of his sweat. And this leads it to where the person is.
Scientific studies
Without testing there can be no innovations and so in order for some form of medicine, product or service to be invented it has to be thoroughly tried out and clarified to have no side effects on human beings. Tests especially on animals are no new thing as they were used to study behavioral changes as in the case of Pavlov and the dogs and to invent medicine. Its common knowledge that rats, guinea pigs and monkeys are widely used for experimental research and can be given new samples of products to monitor its effect on them and determine whether they can work on human beings. Without lab testing there wouldn’t be the milestone improvement we have in medicine and psychology.
Disease outbreak control and elimination
Thanks to lab testing, some diseases like polio and measles have been controlled and almost eradicated. So have some other dangerous viral diseases like mumps that are mostly airborne. also help the livestock technologists to war farmers beforehand of an outbreak of a serious disease such as foot and mouth that wipes out whole herds of cattle or Coccidiosis that kills so many poultry. This also applies for dangerous diseases that can wipe out acres and acres of crop from a farm. Control measures can then be taken to avert these disasters. Lab testing is a truly important practice.