My partner and I are trying to get underwritten for life insurance policies and of course we have to undergo a physical.
Our broker handed us a pamphlet from the company that sends out a nurse to do the physical which explains the tests they will be performing. There will be a blood draw, weight and height check, urinalysis, and blood pressure check.
The pamphlet went on to advise that one should not smoke 1-2 hours before the test, no alcohol at least one day before the test, drink plenty of water in the 12 hour period before test and **do not exercise ** at least 12 hours prior to test.
It went on to explain that the no alcohol or cigs was advised because they temporarily raise BP which could give a false reading of high BP. The water is so you get a good urine specimen but no explanation was given for no exercise.
My understanding is that exercise can lower BP for 1-12 hours. Are they trying to nab someone who may be on the borderline?
I just don’t understand what negative effect exercising could have on a life insurance physical.
IANAPhysician, however at least in dogs, intense exercise can temporarily elevate serum ALT (a liver leakage enzyme). Myoglobin can also be increased, as can potassium.
Yup, that’s true for people too. I know that there are actually several typical lab tests that can be affected by exercise, which is why they usually warn you about that before doing a standard physical. Unfortunately, because my clinical biochemistry rotation is the only one I haven’t completed yet (starts next week), I’ll have to get back to you about those or pull out my textbook. But there are other medical professional types on the board who should be of more help than I.
A helpful website is Lab Tests Online. You can look up almost any tests your doctor orders, see what sort of sample they’ll need, and learn a little bit about the test itself. In most cases, they’ll also tell you how to prepare for the test, whether it’s fasting, avoiding caffeine, or whatever.
Of course, no website is a substitute for a doctor, so if you have questions about things being done to you, go to the source!
Muscle movement produces creatine (sp? I’m much too lazy to look it up), which has something to do with kidney function. If your levels are high, and you worked out before the test, you will have to visit the vampir. . . er, phlebotomist again to make sure your kidneys aren’t not doing something good.
It has become increasingly standard to measure a baseline CK now. More and more people as they get older get stuck on statins, which have an unfortunate side-effect of myotoxicity and occasional rhabdomyolysis. This is detected by following CKs.
Unfortunately, CKs spike after hard exercise as well due to leakage out of stressed muscles. So if they are following your CKs, they don’t want to measure this instead.
Another related reason is that myoglobin also can leak out of the muscles. While in huge doses, it can cause big kidney problems (like in rhabdomyolysis), in small doses it may still show up as blood on a urine dipstick. Hematuria (blood in the urine) needs to worked up with more expensive tests because microscopic hematuria can be caused by bad things or not so bad things. So better to avoid the exercise to make the u-dip work better (more specific).