Why it’s important to have a blood test before treatment

There are certain blood panels our expert weight management doctors need to check before they can prescribe weight loss medication. 


Beware- there are a lot of services out there that don’t check your baseline blood tests before prescribing new medication but at Beyondbmi, your health is our first priority.

How do I know if I have the right blood test?

  • HbA1c

  • Renal Panel

  • Liver Panel

  • Lipid Panel

  • Thyroid function test

What we test for and why

  • Renal Function Tests

    What specific biomarkers do we look for in these panels?

    Creatinine, eGFR

    What does this measure?

    Creatine is a waste product that is excreted (removed) from the body by the kidney. If our kidneys are struggling to remove waste products like creatinine, it will increase in our blood and we can see this in a blood test. eGFR (estimated glomerular filtration rate) is a measure of how well your kidneys are filtering waste product

    What has this got to do with starting weight loss medication?

    We need to make sure your kidneys are working well enough before we start a new medication; sometimes medication can improve kidney function and sometimes it can worsen it so it is helpful to have a baseline so we know what effect if any, the medication is having on the kidneys.

  • Liver Function Tests

    What specific biomarkers do we look for in these panels?

    ALT, ALP, GGT and Albumin, Bilirubin

    What does this measure?

    This measures enzymes and biomarkers in the liver which help us to measure how healthy our liver is. When the liver is damaged, enzyme levels can increase

    What has this got to do with starting weight loss medication?

    We need to make sure your liver is working well enough before we start a new medication; sometimes weight loss medication can improve liver function and sometimes it can worsen it so it is helpful to have a baseline so we know what effect if any, the medication is having on the liver.

  • HbA1c

    What specific biomarkers do we look for in these panels?

    HbA1c

    What does this measure?

    This is a measure of pre-diabetes and diabetes. If this is too high, this can indicate we need to seek treatment for diabetes

    What has this got to do with starting weight loss medication?

    Weight loss treatment can improve your HbA1c so we like to monitor these improvements

  • Cholesterol Panel

    What specific biomarkers do we look for in these panels?

    Total Cholesterol, HDL, LDL, Triglycerides

    What does this measure?

    This measures cholesterol levels and triglyceride levels which, when too high, need to be treated

    What has this got to do with starting weight loss medication?

    Weight loss treatment can improve your triglycerides and cholesterol levels so we like to monitor these improvements

  • Thyroid Function Tests (TFTs)

    What specific biomarkers do we look for in these panels?

    TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone)

    What does this measure?

    This measures how much our thyroid needs to be stimulated to produce the necessary levels of thyroid hormones. If it is too high, this is because our thyroid gland is not producing enough thyroid hormones and this means we might need to replace our thyroid hormone with treatment

    What has this got to do with starting weight loss medication?

    Weight issues can be caused by low thyroid hormones so if this is the cause, we can treat your weight by also treating your thyroid issue.