Focus on gut health, popular science 3 self-examination products for stool

Publication Time:

2022-11-21 17:45

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Have you ever felt this way? When experiencing physical symptoms, a lack of professional medical knowledge and immediate testing tools often leads to panic and anxiety. Now, many home-based self-testing products are available, enabling us to conduct early disease screening and post-treatment checkups at any time, freeing us from such fear and anxiety. If you experience abdominal pain, diarrhea, abdominal masses, melena, changes in bowel habits, or have a family history of colorectal cancer, and feel anxious, you can perform a stool self-test anytime. Today, I'll introduce three stool self-testing products: Calprotectin Test Kit, Fecal Occult Blood Test Kit, and Group A Rotavirus/Adenovirus Test Kit. With these self-testing tools, you can conveniently test at home anytime, with results available within 15 minutes. Early screening and early diagnosis can alleviate anxiety. (Images below are from Aiwei Health's WeChat official account)

I. Self-testing for Abdominal Pain, Diarrhea, Constipation, and Enteritis
Experts recommend fecal calprotectin testing under the following conditions: recurrent diarrhea, abdominal pain, bloody stools, mucus stools, constipation, family history of colorectal cancer, age over 50, and inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease) patients.
Calprotectin is a calcium- and zinc-binding protein present in neutrophils. It is released into the gastrointestinal tract when white blood cells are damaged. It is unaffected by diet, resists enzymatic degradation, and remains stable for a long time. It is a commonly used and ideal inflammatory marker in feces, playing an important role in the evaluation of intestinal inflammation. Speaking of intestinal examinations, many people think of colonoscopies. Those who have undergone or seen colonoscopies should be very excited about this non-invasive in-vitro self-testing product.

Figure 1: Calprotectin Test Kit

II. Self-testing for Melena, Abdominal Masses, and Family History of Colorectal Cancer
Experts recommend fecal occult blood testing under the following conditions: melena or bloody stools, changes in bowel habits (such as changes in stool frequency or consistency), abdominal masses, emaciation, weight loss, family history of colorectal cancer, and age over 50.
Fecal occult blood refers to minor gastrointestinal bleeding without visible changes in stool appearance; it is undetectable by the naked eye and requires detection using specific chemical or immunochemical reagents. Fecal occult blood testing can detect gastrointestinal bleeding, facilitating early detection, diagnosis, and treatment of colorectal cancer. Data from the "Expert Consensus Opinion on Early Colorectal Cancer Screening in China (2019, Shanghai)" shows that colorectal cancer is one of the most common malignant tumors, ranking third globally in incidence and second in mortality.

Figure 2: Fecal Occult Blood Test Kit

III. Self-testing for Infant Diarrhea
If an infant has diarrhea, accompanied by high fever, cough, or vomiting, parents should be aware of the possibility of rotavirus or adenovirus infection and should promptly perform a Group A rotavirus and adenovirus test. This helps avoid the overuse of antibiotics and allows for timely protection of other children in the home to prevent infection.
Rotavirus and adenovirus are two major pathogens causing diarrhea in children. According to statistics, rotavirus infections cause approximately 125 million cases of infant diarrhea and 900,000 infant deaths worldwide each year. Adenovirus is the second most important pathogen causing acute gastroenteritis in infants, capable of infecting the respiratory tract, gastrointestinal tract, urinary tract and bladder, eyes, and liver.

Figure 3: Group A Rotavirus/Adenovirus Test Kit

IV. How to Perform a Stool Self-Test
These stool self-test kits are very easy to use. The diluent bottle design is also very user-friendly, featuring a double-layer cap, a built-in sampling spoon, and a drip hole.

After opening the lid, sample according to the instructions, add it to the diluent, shake well, and let it stand for 1-2 minutes. Then, add 2 drops to the sample well of the test card. Within the specified time, interpret the results according to the instructions.

These stool self-testing items are also available in hospitals. Self-testing products produced by Aiwei Technology Co., Ltd. use the same technology as the reagent kits used in Aiwei's medical institution testing instruments, resulting in relatively accurate and reliable results. If you don't want to go to the hospital or it's inconvenient to go, you can conduct early screening and regular checkups at home anytime.
In addition to self-testing for enteritis, fecal occult blood, and Group A rotavirus and adenovirus, Aiwei Technology has many other approved rapid self-testing products. Self-testing products for kidney disease, diabetes, liver disease, vaginitis, premature ovarian failure, pregnancy-induced hypertension, amniotic fluid monitoring, preterm labor warning, and early bladder cancer screening are available on e-commerce platforms and at pharmacies. In the future, when regular self-testing becomes a daily habit, and everyone takes control of their health checkups, we believe that severe cases will decrease accordingly, and our anxiety about difficulty seeing a doctor will also lessen.