Awesome, I'm getting my blood drawn today!

Let's be honest, nobody likes needles. You might tolerate them, but if it's not necessary, then it's better to avoid them. For some people, the mere sight of blood-drawing equipment or the smell of isopropanol is enough to send shivers down their spine. Around 3-10% of the population suffers from what's called trypanophobia, a fear of needles. In an estimated 10-20% of cases, the autonomic nervous system has involuntarily sent the body into a sudden standby mode during a vaccination or blood draw.

"Awesome, getting blood drawn today!" Said nobody ever..

These are all valid reasons, but you shouldn't avoid them too consistently. Updating important vaccinations and having your key blood values ​​checked every few decades is the bare minimum of medical self-care, because those who avoid these minor problems for too long are potentially confronted with more serious ones later on.

Fortunately, determining the most important blood values, namely cholesterol levels and long-term blood sugar, doesn't require a blood draw from the inside of your elbow. Instead, a small prick in the fingertip is sufficient to obtain a few drops of blood. This heals quickly, and there's certainly no risk of bruising. Needle-free blood sampling was, incidentally, the main selling point of Theranos, a former US startup that claimed to be able to determine virtually anything from a single drop of blood:

Theranos documentation with an excerpt from an advertisement promoting needle-free blood sampling from the fingertip

Unfortunately, these were empty promises that culminated in one of the biggest corporate scandals in recent US history. Fortunately, besides Theranos, there are also companies that have developed devices capable of reliably and accurately measuring a small set of parameters. Pharmacies typically use the Afinion 2 or the cobas b 101 for this purpose. The analysis takes 5 to 10 minutes, after which the results are available immediately.

Thanks to Theranos, there are also companies that have developed devices that can measure only a small set of parameters, but reliably and accurately. These measurements can be performed individually at the pharmacy or as part of a comprehensive PrevCheck package. If your aversion to blood draws has been the reason you've avoided check-ups until now, there's really no excuse anymore. It's important that you check your cholesterol, long-term blood sugar, and blood pressure at least every few years. This is the only way to identify existing risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (heart attack, stroke, etc.) or diabetes in time and counteract them before they become a problem.

So why PrevCheck?

PrevCheck consists of a 10-minute online questionnaire and an approximately 30-minute appointment at the pharmacy, during which the measurements are taken and the results are discussed immediately afterward. Guaranteed needle-free, just a fingertip sample! And the best part? You don't necessarily have to be fasting (in the sense of having eaten, but please do fast if you've consumed alcohol). Only if an unusually high triglyceride level (>4.5 mmol/l) is detected is a follow-up measurement on an empty stomach recommended (no food or drink for 8-10 hours beforehand). However, this is quite rare (in less than 10% of cases).

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