A Comprehensive Metabolic Panel, often called a CMP, is a common blood test that gives your healthcare provider a broad look at how your body is functioning. It may be ordered as part of an annual checkup, to monitor a medicine, to follow up on a long-term health problem or whenever symptoms like fatigue, nausea, weakness, dehydration, abdominal pain, swelling, or unexplained weight gain or loss require further evaluation.
CMP includes 14 tests that measure a variety of substances in your blood and information regarding sugar, electrolyte, protein, calcium and kidney and liver function. MedlinePlus highlights that CMP assists to illustrate how your body utilizes food and energy and how effectively certain organs function.
What Happens During the Test?
A CMP is a routine blood test. The health care provider inserts a small needle into a vein, typically in the arm, and draws out a sample of blood in a tube. The sample is then submitted to a lab for analysis. This can take just a few minutes.
The patient might not be allowed to eat beforehand, particularly if he or she is having a test for glucose. Whether you need to be fasted or not will depend on your provider. It is also important to note any medicines or supplements used or recent illnesses as these can have an impact on the result.
What Does a CMP Measure?
Blood sugar: Glucose will display blood sugar level. Diabetes, prediabetes, medications and stress response are possible causes of a high glucose level.
Kidney function: Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and Creatinine indicate how efficiently the kidneys are removing wastes. eGFR can be used to assess these results, calculations estimate the ability of the kidney to filter.
Electrolytes: Sodium, Potassium, Chloride and Carbon dioxide, which help measure fluid balance, acid-base balance, nerve & muscle function. Imbalanced electrolytes may be caused by dehydration, kidney disorders, vomiting, diarrhea, drug side effects, or hormone disorders.
Liver function: ALT, AST, alkaline phosphatase and bilirubin are used to assess the function of the liver and bile duct. Abnormal readings can happen if the liver is inflamed, if the gallbladder is involved, if there’s an injury resulting from drinking too much, due to some medications, because of fatty liver disease, or even for other reasons.
Proteins: Albumin and total protein may indicate nutritional status, liver and kidney protein loss, inflammation or other health issues.
Calcium: Calcium is used for bones, nerves, muscles and the heart. Extra evaluation may be indicated with either low or high calcium.
According to Cleveland Clinic, a CMP will check for various proteins, enzymes, electrolytes, minerals and more, and can aid providers in screening, diagnosis, or monitoring health problems or medication side effects.
What Do Abnormal Results Mean?
If the CMP reading is abnormal it doesn’t necessarily indicate something serious is wrong. Factors that can influence results: hydration, food intake, fitness, medications, supplements, lab variation, etc. The most important thing is the trend of the results, symptoms, medical history and the nature and extent of the abnormality – whether mild or more serious.
For instance, if a creatinine is only slightly elevated, that could indicate that the person is dehydrated; however, if it is consistently elevated, that could indicate a possibility of kidney-related issues that will require additional testing. Medication may need to be reviewed, a repeat liver test may need to be done and the liver may be tested for Hepatitis and an ultrasound may be ordered, if liver enzymes are high. If glucose is elevated, an A1C test will be ordered to assess the risk for diabetes.
What Comes Next?
Your provider might suggest additional lab tests, a medication change, better hydration, dietary changes or investigation for certain conditions. According to the National Kidney Foundation, CMP can be helpful in determining kidney, electrolyte, calcium, protein, liver and blood sugar conditions.
Final Thoughts
A CMP is a small blood test that can give you much more information to understand your health. It aids in the identification of early changes, management of chronic disease and safe treatment decisions.
For lab testing, annual checkups, or help understanding your CMP results, email appointment@familydiagnosticclinic.com and our team will get you scheduled.
