Stool comes in a range of colors. All shades of brown and even green are considered typical. Only rarely does stool color indicate a possibly serious intestinal condition. Stool color is generally influenced by what you eat as well as by the amount of bile — a yellow-green fluid that digests fats ...
Why it's done A hematocrit test can help your health care team make a diagnosis or monitor how you respond to a treatment. The test is done as part of a complete blood count (CBC). When the hematocrit value is low, the proportion of red blood cells in the blood is lower than usual. This can indicate: The blood has too few healthy red blood cells. This condition is called anemia. That the body ...
Overview An alanine aminotransferase test, also called an ALT test, is a blood test to check the health of your liver. ALT is a substance found mostly in the liver. If your liver is OK, the ALT level usually stays low. But when liver cells are irritated or damaged, ALT can leak into the bloodstream. So the ALT level can go up.
Bacteria, yeast or parasites can indicate an infection. Casts — tube-shaped proteins — can be a result of kidney disorders. Crystals that form from chemicals in urine might be a sign of kidney stones. A urinalysis alone usually doesn't provide a definite diagnosis.
Hair loss can appear in many different ways, depending on what's causing it. It can come on suddenly or gradually and affect just your scalp or your whole body. Signs and symptoms of hair loss may include: Gradual thinning on top of head. This is the most common type of hair loss, affecting people as they age. In men, hair often begins to recede at the hairline on the forehead. Women typically ...
Your kidneys filter waste products from your blood while keeping what your body needs — including proteins. However, some diseases and conditions allow proteins to pass through the filters of your kidneys, causing protein in urine. Conditions that can cause a temporary rise in the levels of protein in urine, but don't necessarily indicate kidney damage, include:
