Can I drink water on an empty stomach during a physical examination?

Generally speaking, in order to make our physical examination results more accurate, we cannot eat within ten hours before the physical examination. So many friends asked whether they can drink water on an empty stomach for a physical examination. Because many friends can tolerate not eating for a short period of time, but many friends cannot tolerate not drinking water. So, can they drink water on an empty stomach for a physical examination? Let’s take a brief look at it!

It is necessary not to eat before the physical examination, but you cannot deliberately not drink water. You can drink a small glass of water (about 200 ml) after getting up on the day of the physical examination to ensure the necessary water for the body. There is still some time before you arrive at the physical examination center, and the human body can completely absorb the water, which will not affect the results of the physical examination.

If you drink 200 ml of water on the morning of your physical examination, it will take at least half an hour to get from your home to the hospital for the physical examination and then to have your blood drawn. By this time, the water you drank has already been absorbed and has penetrated into the tissues to participate in metabolism. During this half hour, 20-40 ml of urine will be produced, and some of it will be excreted through breathing and sweating. Therefore, the increase in your blood volume at that time will not exceed 40 ml, which is less than 1%, and it will not have any impact on blood indicators.

You can drink a small amount of water during a fasting physical examination. The four major fasting physical examination items are:

First, blood tests: after eating, the blood concentration will increase, and the blood will become turbid and difficult to see clearly, which is medically called "fatty blood", which will directly affect the test results of liver function, fasting blood sugar, etc.

Second, abdominal B-ultrasound. After eating, the gallbladder will contract and need to release bile to help digestion. A large number of bubbles will also be produced in the intestines, which will interfere with abdominal B-ultrasound imaging. Therefore, abdominal B-ultrasound examination can only be performed on an empty stomach.

Third, infrared thermal imaging. Far-infrared thermal imaging determines whether the body is healthy based on the heat differences in various parts of the body. It can play a predictive role in disease. Eating will cause a sudden increase in heat in certain parts of the body, which will affect the test results.

Fourth, C-14 breath experiment. The carbon 14 breath test is the simplest method to detect Helicobacter pylori in the stomach. Stomach examination can only be performed on an empty stomach, otherwise it is impossible to find out whether the stomach is healthy.

You can drink a small amount of water on an empty stomach during a physical examination, because the water will be completely absorbed by our body in a short time, so it will not affect the results of the physical examination, so you can rest assured. But you cannot eat, if you eat, it will have a great impact on the results of the examination, so you must pay attention.