To best understand the difference and the benefits of this test, it is necessary to consider the conventional blood test that is given at the blood lab or hospital, known as a Complete Blood Count (CBC). Almost every person has experienced this test which involves inserting a needle into the patient’s arm and extracting a syringe full of blood. The blood sample is then sent to a laboratory to be examined by a hematologist and it can take up to two weeks to receive the results. However, the major problem with this test is that shortly after the blood cells are extracted from the human body, they die so the computer or hematologist is merely counting dead blood cells. The blood is also changed through the addition of stains and dyes to facilitate computer analysis. The results take the form of a quantitative analysis of the blood: how many dead red blood cells, how many dead white blood cells, what number is the cholesterol level etc. These results usually come with a set of ranges, for example blood cholesterol should not exceed a certain limit otherwise it is considered high. The results are interpreted by a doctor who may say that a patient is anemic or has high cholesterol, for example, but the patient never has the opportunity to see the results for themselves and would not be able to interpret them even if they did. This leaves the patient in a position where he or she must follow the instructions of the person interpreting the results, which is almost certainly some course of medication using pharmaceutical drugs supplied by drug companies. Once a certain diagnosis has been established via the CBC and certain medication embarked upon the patient can expect to take that medication for years, sometimes the rest of their lives.