When to Be Worried About Normal Blood Test Results

More and more often, you as a patient will have access to your blood test results. And, in many cases, you may even see them before your doctor does! Partially because a big trend is patient-direct labs, where people can order their own blood tests.

Given how common this is, it’s only natural that you would be more anxious about what constitutes ‘normal blood test results.’ As well as trying to understand what would show up in a blood test and how to improve blood test results.

In these situations, when would you really need to worry? This is what I want to help you cover today. Let’s get into it…

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Table of Contents

The Tricky Thing About Blood Test Results
Normal Blood Test Results and Interpreting the Numbers
How to Improve Test Results

The Tricky Thing About Blood Test Results

Here’s a good thing to remember when thinking about your blood test results:

• A lot of things can be abnormal, without being worrisome.
• But, on the other hand, some things can be normal but still significant.

Of course, the first thing we want is for you to have a trusted relationship with your doctor. They are the ones that can help you make the most sense of your blood test results chart. And, they are also the ones who can help outline some next steps to take.

Along those same lines, there has been this popular idea of “which tests should you request” for things like your thyroid or something else. And, it’s almost as though your doctor should test you for this list – and, the more they test, the better they are as a doctor.

For me, this simply is not true.

More testing does not automatically mean better data.

In fact, the more irrelevant things that you test, because you are testing so much, the more risk you have for multiple ‘false positives’ which won’t get to the source of your problems.

But, let’s get back to when should you worry?

Lab interpretation comes down to taking into accounts every factor of your health, and putting that puzzle together. What this comes down to is working with someone who can blend that big-picture idea with your in-the-moment results.

Normal Blood Test Results and Interpreting the Numbers

There are a few tests which can be important, even when the results are “normal.” These are especially significant for that reason.

Calcium

The first I want to mention is calcium. Calcium in the blood is measured via serum calcium, and while it sounds harmless it’s quite important. It shows how your body controls calcium in the blood, which is critical to your overall health.

When calcium is high, that always begs an explanation. But, it may be significant even when it is normal – when we see it above 9.8, it can be a sign of abnormal parathyroid function. Not always, but it can be an issue.

ALT

Another big one is one of the main liver enzymes called ALT. The normal ranges have gotten narrower, but within the normal range, levels that are on the “higher side of normal” are clearly a problem.

This is specifically true in women who have scores greater than 19, or men who have scores greater than 25. It definitely warrants an explanation, with one of the most common culprits being fatty liver disease.

TSH

Next up is TSH. This is one of the thyroid tests and research suggests that healthy people have lower TSH scores (on the low side of normal) and not just the normal range. The normal range is 0.4 – 4.5 – but healthy people tend to have scores on the lower end of that.

If you are above 2, this may become a problem. It may be the cause of some of the symptoms you have right now, and may become more of an issue into the future. So, it is definitely worth looking into.

Thyroid Antibodies

Related to your TSH would be your thyroid antibodies. In many cases, these are not measured or they are measured and they are positive (but they are below some threshold).

While it may not mean that you need medication, it may mean that you need to be treated in some way, shape, or form.

Ferritin

This is a marker of iron storage. Ferritin is tricky because a lot of things can falsely elevate it – any chronic cause of inflammation in the body can cause ferritin to run high.

But, if someone has thyroid disease, they may have symptoms of low iron even with normal levels of ferritin. If ferritin gets below somewhere between 50-60, they may be symptomatic.

This can include:

• Fatigue
• Hair loss
• Headaches
• Poor quality sleep
• Muscle pain

Ferritin is something that we see as important for menstruating women, in particular.

What Would Show Up in a Blood Test

Please realize that there are times, when taking a blood test, that levels can go up and down for no particular reason. Randomness is definitely something to keep in mind.

You may need to check things again! That said, the possibility of minor fluctuations may be a result of:

• Lab error
• Exercise
• Recent illness
• Weight changes

How to Improve Test Results

The critical thing is that trends matter more than isolate readings. So, you shouldn’t key in too hard on the one abnormality or the one thing that showed up, but really pay attention to the overall trend and how things are developing over time.

It is also critical to know that your test results only matter as part of the more holistic picture of your health. People that are perfectly healthy are always going to have a few things that appear abnormal, and part of that is randomness, ranges, or something else.

The big thing is that you need a good relationship with a doctor. Someone who can help you make sense of results and someone you can trust. And, that more testing is not always the solution – but strategic testing that makes sense for your situation.

Don’t just check everything, test the right things! It is so important to screen and to follow up on things important to your health, so I hope today’s article gave you something to think about when it comes to your health and when to be worried about blood test results.

P.S. Whenever you are ready, here is how I can help you now:

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Dr. Alan Glen Christianson (Dr. C) is a Naturopathic Endocrinologist and the author of The NY Times bestselling Adrenal Reset Diet, The Metabolism Reset Diet and The Thyroid Reset Diet.

Dr. C’s gift for figuring out what really works has helped hundreds of thousands of people reverse thyroid disease, lose weight, diabetes, and regain energy. Learn more about the surprising story that started his quest.