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Comment by Pyxl101 | Hacker News Reader

> But the bigger problem is that it isn't easy to compare health tests...

It ought to be relatively easy. I mean, not easy for the average Joe, but easy for anyone seriously interested in doing it.

Draw blood twice: once with the finger prick, and once with a regular vein draw, and then test the two samples using the different methodologies. Compare the results. Seems like a fairly trivial experiment to run and reproduce.

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By "compare health tests", I'm including the process of going to the clinic, waiting for the appointment, getting blood drawn via the vein, etc. etc. Apparently that's enough of a wait time and process to discourage a non-significant number of people from even getting prescribed tests. For those of us who don't have a problem with needles and can make time for the office, easier testing may open new avenues of inquiry and awareness for our health, if testing is as easy as a needle prick.

(yes, I'm leaving out the major issue of over-diagnosis...but that's an issue all kinds of testing and medical practice has to deal with)

> It ought to be relatively easy. ... Seems like a fairly trivial experiment to run and reproduce.

That depends on what you're testing. "Blood test" and "health test" are ridiculously ambiguous terms. Something like red blood cell counts don't vary much from day to day, but some things, like blood sugar and cortisol, vary hour to hour.

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