Calcitonin Test

Thyroid is a small gland in the throat that looks very similar to the butterfly and some special cells in the thyroid produce Calcitonin hormone. Primarily thyroid helps to produce several hormones which help in varied purposes in the human body. The presence of Calcitonin regulates the calcium levels in the blood and also decreases kidney reabsorption to calcium. One the major disorders of Calcitonin is that this can lead to thyroid cancer. When there is excessive amount of calcitonin produced, two conditions arise that are C-cell hyperplasia and medullary thyroid cancer. The C-cel hyperplasia is the initial stage of thyroid disorder and this may or may not lead to medullar thyroid cancer. Medullar thyroid cancer is infectious disease that can spread beyond thyroid disrupting other parts of the body.

Calcitonin level in the blood should be checked for multiple times and the patient should be informed in prior about this. Generally, the Calcitonin test is similar to a normal CBP test where 5-10 ml of blood sample is extracted from the patient’s body. Testing equipment must be cleaned and made neat before starting the test. A proper temperature should be maintained when the sample is being extracted from the patient’s body and the patient’s body should be neatly cleaned.

Calcitonin test basically helps a person to detect the presence of thyroid cancer in a person’s body. This test is useful to monitor recurrence of the ailment. The test conducted is generally intravenous and thus can give the results more accurately than the other type of tests. This test is very useful when there is no presence of lump or swelling over the patient’s body. If there is an elevated level of concentration of calcitonin this means that excessive amounts are being produced. However, Elevated concentration of Calcitonin is a good indicator of C-cel hyperplasia.

The portion of the patient’s body where the sample needs to be extracted should be neatly cleaned with spirit with the help of cotton or neat cloth. An unstained narrow needle should be used to extract the sample and 5-10 ml of the blood sample must be extracted into the needle at a minimal pressure. Excess flow of blood should be controlled by rubbing the pierced area with cotton and holding the portion with cotton for a small time. Bandage can be applied to the portion if there is excess bleeding at the portion.