Recommended blood work?

[Bonfired]

Hi all! Halloween themed blood question:

I usually get my blood stats checked once a year to see if I have any deficiencies. Nothing so far, but since the tests I do seem to vary from year to year, depending on the doctor I see, I'd like to learn more about what I'm checking for, as well as what I might suggest for them to look at.

This is what I've looked at the past two years
Järn = Iron | B = Blood | P = Plasma

2009
B-Hb
P-Homocystein, total
P-Järn
P-Kobalamin
B-Folat, total
P-Ferritin
P-Tyreotropin (TSH)

2008
B-Hb
B-MCV
B-MCH
B-MCHC
P-Järn
P-Ferrin
P-TIBC
P-Kobalamin
B-Folat, total

The list above is in Swedish, but I assume that much of it is medicine speak - correct me if I'm wrong and I'll try to translate. What else might you want to check up prophylactically in case the doc isn't too familiar with a vegan diet?

I've looked about for an medical / nutritional resource on blood tests for vegans, but haven't found one. If I've overlooked it, please let me know.

Cheers!

[Korn]

I've looked about for an medical / nutritional resource on blood tests for vegans
Hi, and welcome!*Out of sheer curiosity, did you make such tests before you became a vegan as well? I'm asking only because most likely, the list of deficiencies to watch out is would probably be longer for non-vegans than vegans.... :-)
Nutrient deficiencies more common in meat eaters than in vegans? (http://www.veganforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=24)

[Bonfired]

Howdy Korn, thanks for the welcome.

I didn't do blood tests while omnivore except to check for iron deficiency as a blood doner.

I recognize that one ought not to worry too much and not let others worries rub off on oneself (hi mom!) but since I showed an indicator of too much plasma iron last time around, and because I get different tests done from occasion to occasion for no particular reason other than the specific doctors knowledge of nutrition, it made me curious if there's a good "baseline" of things to check for. Plus, as mentioned, I'm interested in reading up on what the tests I have done are testing for (Wikipedia being a bit too dense as a primer)

Obviously, omnivores run risks of deficiencies as well but might not think of them being related to a dietary choice (as opposed to veganism being to blame for everything wrong with a vegan) but to me that indicates that more people should get checked out, not fewer.

[Korn]

Obviously, omnivores run risks of deficiencies as well but might not think of them being related to a dietary choice
They may not think of their deficiencies being related to their dietary choices, but that's the big mystery here. With so many deficiencies associated with a standard, non-vegan diet (I read somewhere that only 1% of the population have good levels of all the nutrients they need), it's kind of funny that most people don't seem to care, or just take a multi-vitamin, but when they go vegan, they start to worry about nutrients, as if there were more nutrients to worry about when living on a vegan diet. :-)

[Bonfired]

Well, it's confirmation bias at work, not a big mystery there.

Another reason would be that switching to a vegan diet (or any other non-mainstream diet, really) forces you to read up on nutrition; A side effect of which is that you might not have as cavalier an attitude as previously to your body and its requirements.