Healthcare providers use enzyme markers to measure proteins and enzymes that indicate diseases or injuries. Enzyme markers involve a blood test that is used to indicate the level of enzymes in the blood. Healthcare providers also can identify potential health problems in our bodies by using enzyme markers. They use enzyme markers for screening, diagnosing, and monitoring. Heart and liver problems and specific diseases are diagnosed through enzyme markers. Some enzyme marker tests include liver enzyme tests, cardiac enzyme tests, and creatine kinase tests (Kamble & Chavan, 2020). The tests provide information on how the organ functions and identify any problem associated with the organ. For instance, liver damage causes it to release enzymes into the bloodstream. The liver enzyme test performed by the healthcare provider checks for elevated liver enzymes associated with diseases such as celiac disease and liver cancer.
The health care providers check for the treatment and disease progress by making tests. For instance, the cardiac enzyme test indicates heart attack or heart disease signs. In most cases, when surgeons perform heart surgeries, they assess the function and condition of the heart through tests. When a person encounters a heart injury, there is usually a stimulation and release of proteins known as creatinine phosphokinase and troponin. In other words, the elevated levels of CPK indicate that the patient has coronary artery disease, which increases the risk of a heart attack (Urry et al., 2019). Troponin enzymes are only found in the heart organ. However, the troponin enzymes increase after 12 hours of the attack. Furthermore, healthcare providers can take tests every couple of hours to measure enzyme levels.
Taking troponin enzymes has made my life easy to some extent, as my grandfather was diagnosed with heart disease and had to take a test for clarification. He had obesity issues, which he fought for a while, and later was diagnosed with heart disease. Even though he had undergone various tests, a cardiac enzyme test was also performed. He had symptoms such as chest pains, dizziness, shortness of breath, and nausea (Castiglione et al., 2022). A cardiac enzyme test is performed on patients with such symptoms. Other symptoms could also include heart attack and stroke, which can make a healthcare provider proceed in taking the tests.
Before undertaking the test, the healthcare providers asked us to keep him dehydrated and ensure that he avoids smoking if he does. In this case, drinking much water helps to increase the blood flow in the blood vessels because he was getting his blood drawn. According to Urry et al. (2019), smoking constricts blood vessels in the long run. If he smokes before getting the test, it will be difficult for the healthcare provider to draw blood, making the examination impossible. The healthcare provider warned that the blood tests could make him feel more nauseous and dizzier. Even though the procedure includes drawing blood from the patient, it must be carefully explained and the expected outcomes or side effects explained (Urry et al., 2019). It takes several days for the healthcare provider to bring back the results. When the results are back, the patient is expected to review them with the health care provider’s help for better analysis. In most cases, additional tests are done to diagnose the root of the problem identified. In the case of my grandfather, we did not take any additional tests.
References
Castiglione, V., Aimo, A., Vergaro, G., Saccaro, L., Passino, C., & Emdin, M. (2022). Biomarkers for the diagnosis and management of heart failure. Heart Failure Reviews, 27(2), 625-643.
Kamble, N. P., & Chavan, G. S. (2020). Correlation of various cardiac markers in diagnosed case of acute MI. IP International Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicological Sciences, 5(3), 84-89.
Urry, L. A., Cain, M. L., Wasserman, S. A., & Minorsky, P. V. (2019). Campbell Biology in Focus. (3rd ed.). Pearson