Biomarkers
What a blood panel can tell you, what it cannot, and where every number on this page comes from.
Two kinds of normal
A guideline target is a number a body of experts decided you should be under or over, arrived at by looking at what happens to people at each level. ApoB, LDL, HbA1c, vitamin D and blood pressure all have one. Those travel: the target is the same whichever laboratory ran your blood.
A laboratory reference interval is something else entirely. It is where the middle 95 percent of some population sat on that laboratory's own machine, with that machine's method. ALT, creatinine and free T4 have one of those and no target. Those do not travel, which is why this page does not print them.
Copying one laboratory's interval onto another laboratory's result is how a perfectly normal value gets read as a problem, and how a drifting one gets waved through. Where we have no target, the row says so and points you at the interval printed on your own report.
Lipids
| Marker | Range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| ApoB | < 1.00 g/L | 1 |
| LDL cholesterol | < 3.0 mmol/L | 1 |
| HDL cholesteroldiffers by sex | > 1.0 mmol/L | 1 |
| Total cholesterol | < 5.0 mmol/L | 1 |
| Triglycerides | < 1.7 mmol/L | 1 |
| Lipoprotein(a) | < 75 nmol/L | 2 |
Blood sugar
| Marker | Range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Fasting glucose | 3.9 - 5.5 mmol/L | 3 |
| HbA1c | < 39 mmol/mol | 3 |
| Fasting insulin | your own report |
Inflammation
| Marker | Range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| CRP | < 1.0 mg/L | 4 |
| ESR | your own report | |
| Homocysteine | < 15.0 µmol/L | 5 |
| Creatine kinase | your own report | |
| IL-6 | your own report | |
| Fibrinogen | your own report |
Blood count
| Marker | Range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Haemoglobindiffers by sex | > 7.5 mmol/L | 6 |
| Haematocrit | your own report | |
| MCV | your own report | |
| RDW | your own report | |
| White blood cells | your own report | |
| Platelets | your own report | |
| Neutrophils (absolute) | 2.0 - 7.5 10⁹/L | |
| Lymphocytes (absolute) | 1.0 - 3.5 10⁹/L | |
| Monocytes (absolute) | 0.3 - 1.0 10⁹/L | |
| Eosinophils (absolute) | < 0.50 10⁹/L | |
| Basophils (absolute) | < 0.10 10⁹/L |
Kidneys
| Marker | Range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Creatinine | your own report | |
| eGFR | > 60 mL/min/1.73m² | 7 |
| Urea | your own report | |
| Uric acid | your own report |
Liver
| Marker | Range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| ALT | your own report | |
| AST | your own report | |
| GGT | your own report | |
| Alkaline phosphatase | your own report | |
| Bilirubin | your own report | |
| Albumin | your own report |
Thyroid
| Marker | Range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| TSH | 0.40 - 4.00 mIU/L | 8 |
| Free T4 | your own report | |
| Free T3 | your own report | |
| TPO antibodies | your own report |
Hormones
| Marker | Range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Testosteronediffers by sex | your own report | 9 |
| Free testosterone | your own report | |
| SHBG | your own report | |
| Oestradiol | your own report | |
| Progesterone | your own report | |
| LH | your own report | |
| FSH | your own report | |
| DHEA-S | your own report | |
| Cortisol | your own report | |
| IGF-1 | your own report | |
| Prolactin | your own report | |
| PSA | your own report |
Vitamins and minerals
| Marker | Range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Vitamin D | 75 - 125 nmol/L | 10 |
| Vitamin B12 | > 148 pmol/L | 11 |
| Active B12 | > 32 pmol/L | 12 |
| Folate | > 10.0 nmol/L | |
| Ferritindiffers by sex | 30 - 300 µg/L | 13 |
| Iron | your own report | |
| Transferrin saturation | 20 - 45 % | 13 |
| Magnesium | your own report | |
| Zinc | your own report | |
| Selenium | your own report | |
| Calcium | your own report | |
| Sodium | your own report | |
| Potassium | your own report |
Other
| Marker | Range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Omega-3 index | > 8.0 % | 14 |
| Immunoglobulin A (total) | 0.70 - 4.00 g/L | |
| Anti-tTG IgA | < 7.0 U/mL |
Where these ranges come from
- 1Efficacy and safety of more intensive lowering of LDL cholesterol: a meta-analysis of data from 170,000 participants in 26 randomised trials (Cholesterol Treatment Trialists, Lancet 2010)
- 2Lipoprotein(a) concentration and the risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, and nonvascular mortality (Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration, JAMA 2009)
- 3Diabetes mellitus, fasting blood glucose concentration, and risk of vascular disease: a collaborative meta-analysis of 102 prospective studies (Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration, Lancet 2010)
- 4C-reactive protein concentration and risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, and mortality: an individual participant meta-analysis (Emerging Risk Factors Collaboration, Lancet 2010)
- 5Facts and recommendations about total homocysteine determinations (Refsum et al., Clinical Chemistry 2004)
- 6Evaluation of Hemoglobin Cutoff Levels to Define Anemia Among Healthy Individuals (Addo et al., JAMA Network Open 2021)
- 7Lower estimated glomerular filtration rate and higher albuminuria are associated with all-cause and cardiovascular mortality: a collaborative meta-analysis of high-risk population cohorts (CKD Prognosis Consortium, Kidney International 2011)
- 8Serum TSH, T4, and thyroid antibodies in the United States population (1988 to 1994): NHANES III (Hollowell et al., Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism 2002)
- 9Harmonized Reference Ranges for Circulating Testosterone Levels in Men of Four Cohort Studies (Travison et al., JCEM 2017)
- 10Estimation of optimal serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D for multiple health outcomes (Bischoff-Ferrari et al., American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2006)
- 11Laboratory assessment of vitamin B12 status (Harrington, Journal of Clinical Pathology 2017)
- 12Screening for metabolic vitamin B12 deficiency by holotranscobalamin in patients suspected of vitamin B12 deficiency: a multicentre study (Heil et al., Annals of Clinical Biochemistry 2012)
- 13Laboratory diagnosis of iron-deficiency anemia: an overview (Guyatt et al., Journal of General Internal Medicine 1992)
- 14The Omega-3 Index: a new risk factor for death from coronary heart disease? (Harris & von Schacky, Preventive Medicine 2004)
What to do with your results
Type them in once and the numbers stop being a PDF in your inbox. Your own account keeps every reading with its date, draws the line between them, and marks what sits outside its range. Nothing is scored and nothing is sold to you off the back of it.
This page is a reference, not a diagnosis. A value outside a range is a reason to talk to your doctor, and a value inside one is not a clean bill of health.