Here’s the scenario.

Your doctor has given you the results of your recent blood work. He says your cholesterol is a little on the high side and your blood sugar (glucose) is also a little on the high side. I’m going to give you this medicine for your high cholesterol and this one for you for your high blood sugar. You wonder how this  has happened. You thought you were taking good care of yourself.

Your doctor has determined that these blood levels are high according to established reference ranges that are on the laboratory results pages. Did you know that the reference ranges are established according to the widest ranges for people who are sick? In other words if your results fit into these wide sick ranges you are generally considerd healthy.

‘Laboratory reference range’ refers to the upper and lower limits that a laboratory establishes for its version of normal. When a blood test measurement is higher or lower than this range, the lab reports it as abnormal. However-and this is a very important point-laboratories mainly determine reference ranges for what is pathological, not functional. This means that the levels are reported as abnormal only when they are well past the point of disturbed function, when a disease has already become entrenched.

Moreover, except for the lipid panel which is the same across the country (due to the influence of the drug companies), each lab has its own reference range that is determined by a ‘bell curve analysis’ of an unhealthy population. This means that the ‘normal’ range includes a significant number of people who are sick or unwell but without a clinical diagnosis. It does not mean ‘healthy’ or ‘optimal function’.

On the other hand, a functional analysis of blood chemistry uses a narrower reference range that is established by medical and scientific experts in each area. This can reveal the presence of abnormal function before a disorder has evolved into a full-blown pathology, as well as help reveal the causes and nature of poorly defined disorders. Because the advanced functional reference ranges, and the pattern analysis necessary to extract the most information from them, are not widely known or taught, most health care practitioners do not have the skill to look at blood chemistry from a non-disease point of view.