Blood Drug Testing

Can a blood test show cancer or if I'm lacking certain nutrients?

I'm 18 and generally way below the average weight of people my age. I don't exercise much, apart from power walking. I don't drink or smoke either nor do any drugs. My parents say I eat a lot but I still don't put on any weight. I told them I wanted to go for a blood test to see if I've got any problems. Can blood tests show what my body may be lacking? Can it show cancer? I just want to find out the cause of my under weight problem.

Public Comments

1. You should be going for regular blood tests with your yearly check up. It will test basic levels and can identify a number of easier to spot issues. Most likely at 18 you have the typical teenager metabolism where you need to eat a lot and burn it off quickly...don't worry...you'll likely outgrow that :)! But a regular blood test is too especially to check your thyroid which can cause you to metabolize too quickly. Do you have a reason to think you may have cancer...any other symptoms as this is not enough to cause that level of concern yet. Blood tests, such as white blood cell count, may show certain other things that are a concern and COULD be cancer or something totally different. See your doctor for real answers!
2. You can ask for a variety of tests, most common would be CBC and CMP, cbc is a blood count and can tell many things, and a CMP is a chemistry test, ask for a thyroid screen . as for the cancers i dont see them often enough to know for sure but talk to your doc.