Every time you visit your clinic you’ll have some blood tests. As well as being used to monitor your CD4 cell count and viral load, these will help your clinic monitor your general health.

If you’re taking HIV treatment, some of these tests can also give an indication of whether you’re developing side-effects. There’s a lot more information on side-effects in the NAM booklet, Side-effects.

Some tests can also tell if you have certain infections.

A lot of the tests discussed below are routine – that means that you’ll have them every time you have blood tests at your clinic. Some others you’ll only have if they are needed.

It’s generally best to look at the trend in results over time rather than focusing too much on one result. Your doctor will discuss the results of your blood test with you to help decide the best course of treatment.

The tests described below have been grouped together according to what they are looking at. For example, all the tests that look at the health of your liver are grouped together.

We haven’t provided information on the normal ranges of such results. This is because these can differ depending on your age, gender, and even the measurements used by the testing laboratory.

A full blood count will look at:

• a red blood cell count, which measures haemoglobin, the substance that allows your red blood cells to carry oxygen around your body. If your haemoglobin is too low you are said to have anaemia. Haemoglobin levels are often a bit lower in people with HIV and anaemia is more common than in the general population.
• a platelet count – these cells clot the blood. People with HIV often have fewer platelets than average, although this generally doesn’t cause problems.
• a white blood cell count. This is a measure of the total number of immune white blood cells. These cells are part of the immune system and defend against infections and foreign materials. People with HIV often have slightly lower levels but, again, this isn’t usually a problem.

Cholesterol and triglycerides are blood fats, often called lipids. There are two types of cholesterol – low-density lipoprotein, or LDL cholesterol (sometimes called ‘bad cholesterol’) and high-density lipoprotein, or HDL cholesterol (sometimes called ‘good cholesterol’). High lipids have been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease (illnesses such as heart disease and stroke). Having low levels of HDL cholesterol has also been linked to cardiovascular problems and can be a marker of a risk of other serious illnesses as well.

At your clinic appointments, you may have tests including, ‘total cholesterol’ - this is a measure of the total level of cholesterol in your blood.

But it’s important to also look at the levels of LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol. Another test looks at the ratio of ‘good’ HDL cholesterol to ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol, calculated by dividing your total cholesterol by your HDL cholesterol levels.

Your levels of triglycerides, another lipid, will also be regularly monitored.

If your cholesterol or triglyceride levels are too high, your doctor will talk to you about how you can lower them. This is likely to start with lifestyle changes, such as changing your diet and losing weight, increasing exercise or stopping smoking. But there are also drugs (called statins) that lower cholesterol as well.