What should I do if my baseline lactate is elevated before a test?

Question

I observe that my baseline lactate is raised even before the lactate test is administered. What measures should I undertake to remedy this scenario resulting in high baseline lactate levels?

Answer 1

Patients with a baseline lactate who wish to commence a test should consider warming up at least in the spin mode for 15 to 20 minutes to see if the levels come down. If they do not, it is preferable to defer the test and make arrangements for another day. Regardless of the cause, elevated levels of baseline lactate are clinically relevant, suggesting further investigation is warranted, for example, to see if the body is under stress from fighting off a virus. This background level of lactate must be controlled in order to produce reliable and practically beneficial test results.