medical tests - what do they exactly test for?
 

Hi all

After reading several threads about people having problems with their medical tests, I got wondering.... what exactly do they test for?

I'm guessing they're looking for serious conditions like hepatitis and HIV, anything else we should be worried about? My husband is getting worried that he needs to lose some weight quick, as although by looking at him you would not think he's particularly overweight - ok, maybe just a little - after using a BMI table it turns out he is not just overweight, but not far from being classed as "obese" :ohmy:

My concern is that I have an unusually high cholesterol level, inherited from my "dear" mother :curse:. My GP says he's not overly concerned yet as I'm still young (well, relatively speaking ;)), I don't smoke, am not overweight, and my blood pressure is normal. I have checked the tables myself and taking all this into account, it is true that I am not in the "danger zone" yet, so I haven't been put on medication for it.

Still, as cholesterol seems to have gained notoriety in the last few years, I am worried that they will test for it when they take my blood, so wondering whether anybody can confirm this?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Re: medical tests - what do they exactly test for?
 

I believe they do routine bloods checking liver function,full blood count,kidney function etc. They only seem to check ( correct me if I'M wrong somebody) lipids( cholesterol)and fasting blood glucose if your BMI is > 35 or your waist measurements exceed their limits( can't recall what these are,sorry). They also check for HIV,chlamydia and hepatitis.

Re: medical tests - what do they exactly test for?
 

Hi Waterlily,

Any news yet on the EOI?
See the signature below for what I'm up to! Should hear soon according to NZIS :unsure:

Anyway if you go onto the NZIS website and look under forms and guides, there is a section with the health/medical forms you need to fill in. I can't remember if cholesterol was on there. I looked ages ago to see what they checked during the exam and there's a list of what blood and urine tests are done so it should mention it there if they want cholesterol. It's the form they use during the medical so it also lists what they check for during the physical examination :eek:. It doesn't look too bad but I hate medicals unless they're very quick and don't involve too much undressing!!

NZIS website on a go slow here in Croydon so can't look it up, sorry bedtime now:zzz:

Sue :D

Re: medical tests - what do they exactly test for?
 

On a personal note, it was a nightmare for us. My husband is overweight, and I am too somewhat, we had medicals in UK and he also has arthritis in his knee and will need a knee replacement at some point in the future. Our Agent commented on this and was negative about it. We came here on a visitors visa, got a work permit but after submitting the work permit and english medicals etc to immigration they asked us for more opinions from NZ. They were not kind about his weight, but at that time my hubby had joined a gym and was losing weight and we had a bit of a job convincing them to let us in permanently. They were at one point considering refusing us but as we had both our daughter here and our grandchildren (we got the grandchildren to write begging letters!!! saying don't said grandma and grandpa home please!!!)
we did eventually get our residency. We also pointed out that as my OH was paying over $1,000 in tax each month that we would more than pay for an operation on his knee within 4 years!! Cost a fortune in doctors and specialist letters but was worth it in the end.

Re: medical tests - what do they exactly test for?
 

Hi girls, thanks for your replies.

Hope you're right and they don't test me, my BMI is currently 21.6, my waist measurement 74cms, and I look way younger than my 38 years :rofl:, so hopefully that'll fool them into thinking I'm really healthy :p. The reality is that my cholesterol level is nearly off the charts, a whopping 8.7! :ohmy:, but hopefully they won't find out....

Sue, can't believe you're still waiting, you must really be at the end of your tether :(. I've replied to another one of your posts, best of luck with your complaint, do keep us posted. I've also updated my signature, so no, haven't heard anything yet, but then again it's only been 6.5 weeks so I'm not expecting anything to happen too quickly. Still, I'm obsessively checking the website several times a day to see if they status has changed, but it still only says "selected". I should stop torturing myself really :D

Shril, sounds like you had a really tough time! Glad it all worked out in the end, must have been such a relief. I guess it was all worth it in the end? Sneaky little you, getting the little ones to melt the officer's heart, haha ;) Good for you, hope your new life in NZ was all you were hoping for.

I'll see if I can find that form on the website and take a closer look at what they're going to do to me!

Re: medical tests - what do they exactly test for?
 

HI Water Lily.
We had our meds yesterday pretty easy, after getting a bit stressed with it all. Waist measurements for us is 80, men 103, all this means if your on or over these you will require ,ore blood tests. I asked the Doc what hubbys was as he was on the limit, the nurse had put it down as 103!! The Dr queried it as his BMI was ok then he measured and made it 97!! The medical forms on immi website show what they test for. Only stripped to waist, put gown on for x-ray, never removed any other clothing, the dr was really good and very funny, perhaps it was for the kids benefit. didnt seem to dwell on anything. Only took about 2hrs for 4 of us. suppose we just wait now. I'm sure if i'm ok you will have no worries. will let you know once we know
Chris

Re: medical tests - what do they exactly test for?
 

Hi Chris, thanks for the info! Well my waist measurement is well under 80, so I may be safe, woo-hoo!!

Hubby's is about 103, so a bit borderline for comfort, and he's never had his cholesterol tested, so it could go either way. However, if he's inherited his parents' genes, he'll be fine. My father in law is not particularly small (he eats his puddings off his belly!! :blink:), yet his cholesterol is only 4.8. I'm like a third of his size and mine is 8.7, life's NOT FAIR!! :frown: :p (sigh)

Glad you were happy with the treatment you received, would you mind sending me a private message with the doctor's information so we can use him too? I'd rather go on someone's recommendation than just picking one from a list not knowing what they're like. Thanks!

I'm now concerned my white cell count might be unusual as I've had a sore throat for a week now, anybody has any idea how long it takes for it to go back to normal after an infection?? I may still have time to recover before we book the appointment. Guess I'd better mention it to the doctor when we go though, just so they know what to expect.

Re: medical tests - what do they exactly test for?
 

My white blood cell count was high and my own GP recommended two weeks for it to be back to normal - he was right!:)

Re: medical tests - what do they exactly test for?
 

Thanks chippy, that's great, I'm feeling a lot better now, I don't think we'll be having the medicals until mid June at least, so hopefully my blood cell count will be back to normal by then. Now it's my husband who's got the problem, he came down with whatever bug I've given him yesterday! :unsure:

Ah well, I suppose as long as we warn the doctor it'll be ok? At least they'd know what to expect and if it comes back as abnormal they'll know why.

Cheers!

Re: medical tests - what do they exactly test for?
 

I'll let you know how mine go next week. I'm more worried about the bloods than anything else, you never know whether you may be incubating some infection on the day. It's hard to know how strict they are as well. Do they reject it if any of your levels are only slightly raised even though this may be completely irrelevant and perfectly normal. Everything should be fine, I can't think of anything that should be wrong with me:D

Normal blood values are based on the average [I forget which one] so some people will be outside the accepted normal values yet still be perfectly OK. For instance I would count a slight increase in liver enzymes in an otherwise healthy animal which is showing no signs of disease as fairly unimportant. I can't see why it should be any different for humans yet it depends on what NZIS decide to accept:eek: Or as Chippy said you may just have to redo it 2 weeks later.
Hope the sore throat has gone. I once had one so bad that I couldn't talk for a week, had to resort to sign language and carrying a notepad with me at all times! There were some very happy people in Croydon that week:rofl::eek::rofl:

Re: medical tests - what do they exactly test for?
 

When we got our medical forms back from docs, some levels on hubby's and kids were raised but doc wrote 'acceptable' next to them. He phoned me to tell me about my white blood cell count and said it indicated a bacterial infection and did I know what it could be. As I was feeling fine I said no - hence the re-test.

Re: medical tests - what do they exactly test for?
 

Well that sounds reasonable, not so bothered about it all now!