Stool Analysis: What Affects The Test
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What Affects the Test
Reasons you may not be able to have the test or why the results may not be helpful include:
- Taking medicines such as antibiotics, antidiarrheal medications, barium, bismuth, iron, ascorbic acid, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and magnesium.
- Eating certain foods. For example, a diet high in red meat can cause false-positive results in testing for hidden (occult) blood.
- Contaminating a stool sample with urine, menstrual blood, bleeding hemorrhoids, or chemicals found in toilet paper and paper towels.
- Exposing the stool sample to air or room temperature or failing to send the sample to a laboratory within 1 hour of collection.
| Last updated: | April 11, 2008 |
|---|---|
| Author: | Monica Rhodes |
| Reviewed By: | Kathleen Romito, MD - Family Medicine, Peter J. Kahrilas, MD - Gastroenterology |
| Editors: | Kathleen M. Ariss, MS, Tracy Landauer |
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