When Was the Last Time You Had a Blood Chemistry Analysis?

As a Functional Nutritionist, I am focused on building health by restoring proper physiological functioning in the body. Signs and symptoms are clues that your body is not functioning properly and thus the need to find out the root problem causing the issues. Often the root problem can be detected in one’s blood work – an analysis that unfortunately is often rushed through and not explained thoroughly to the patient and more importantly not measured within the best ranges, laboratory ranges instead of functional ranges.

Laboratory range, also known as pathological range, is used to diagnose disease. The references that are provided within the lab range, if out of range, usually indicate potential for pathology or disease. The lab range provided on the lab results are actually based on a bell curve analysis of all the people that have been to the lab over a certain amount of time. If you go to the same lab in two different cities you will find that the lab ranges are actually different. It is important to have a practitioner who looks at functional ranges so you are not considered “normal” or “healthy”, because your lab tests fall in the same range as the majority of the sick people that have been to that lab.

The functional range is used to assess risk for a disease before the disease develops. The range is a narrower window allowing caregivers to be more proactive in treating a potential problem. See the image below that shows the differences of the ranges. To gain a better understanding of the differences, let’s look at glucose ranges. The functional range for glucose is between 85-100 mg/dl. The laboratory range is 65-110 mg/dl. Levels above the lab range may indicate diabetes. Levels above the functional range may indicate insulin resistance and future risk of developing diabetes. Analyzing with the functional range helps catch issues early and allow time to make the necessary nutritional and life style changes to reverse the trend.

It is important to keep records of your results in a spreadsheet so that you can look at multiple tests taken at different times in one glance. This makes it easier to identify any changes within your results, improvements or regressions and you are not flipping a bunch of paperwork! Also, make sure you request all copies of tests from your providers and keep all your medical information in a binder. Don’t hesitate to ask question about your results. The more you understand what is going on in your body, the better you can take control of your health!

If you would like to learn more about our diagnostic testing, schedule an appointment at Living Health Integrative Medicine by calling 410-216-9180.