Guides: Lab tests

• Lab tests

  Preparing for a blood test: fasting, water and medicines

  Which tests may need an empty stomach, why water is usually fine, and why you should not stop your medicines on your own.

  Published 25 September 2026

• Lab tests

  Home sample collection: how it works

  How to ask for a blood sample to be taken at home, what to have ready, and what happens to the sample.

  Published 25 September 2026

• Lab tests

  Losing weight? Check that it is fat you are losing

  The scale cannot tell fat from muscle. Why that matters, especially if you are on weight-loss injections, and how a body composition test shows the difference.

  Published 25 September 2026