Help to understand blood test results...
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Psyche said:Psalehesost said:
That is an impressive steady improvement!
Yup. Just continue with it and donate blood whenever you can. If it turns out to be only around 4 times a year, it will be like a maintenance decanting schedule (after your ferritin levels are in a good range - like below 80 ng/ml) that will keep your iron status from rising again.
Lisa Guliani said:Way to go, Mr. Premise...To your continued good health!!!!
Ditto!
BTW... I've got some new tests and some of the results are impressive to me, when comparing with my previous blood test results. Last time I was just starting the ketogenic diet, I had been paleo for a while but I had been eating too many carbs actually, so I went to a VERY LOW carb diet since the beginning of this year, I had my blood tested in April, and now again, so I wanted to upload some of it here in order to compare.
Starting with cholesterol profile...
In April it was:
Acid Yazz said:
and the ratios:
Acid Yazz said:
The new results (October, 31st) are:
Total cholesterol: 184 (good)
Triglycerides: 41 (normal)
HDL: 66 (protective)
LDL: 110 (good)
VLDL: ?
**high, normal or good according to the chart: http://www.vaughns-1-pagers.com/medicine/cholesterol-range.htm
Using the website http://www.hughchou.org/calc/chol.php, it says:
Your Total Cholesterol of 184 is DESIRABLE
Your LDL of 110 is NEAR OPTIMAL
Your HDL of 66 is OPTIMAL
Your Triglyceride level of 40 is NORMAL
RATIOS:
Your Total Cholesterol/HDL ratio is: 2.79 - (preferably under 5.0, ideally under 3.5) IDEAL
Your HDL/LDL ratio is: 0.600 - (preferably over 0.3, ideally over 0.4) IDEAL
Your triglycerides/HDL ratio is: 0.606 - (preferably under 4, ideally under 2) IDEAL
So there's an improvement there even to the mainstream conception of cholesterol. Nevertheless, now I'm wondering if it isn't bad that it has gone so drastically down actually.
Other results are:
Ferritin: 110 ng/mL (it was 178 on April)
Hemoglobin: 12.5 g/dL
Hematocrit: 37 (I guess it's a little low ?)
Glucose in blood: 84 (HbA1c value of: 4.4% - 4.5%, according to this web site: http://www.continents.com/diabetes49.htm) (It was 5 on April)
Serum Creatinine: 0.7 md/dl
Uric Acid: 2.0 md/dl (under the normal range... does it mean somethin?)
Basal Insulin: 3.5 uIU/mL
Total IgA: 120.1 mg/dL (Normal range: 90-400)
Total IgG: 820.6 mg/dL (Normal range: 700-1500)
IgE: 57 UI/mL (Normal until 87)
(The doctor recommended this because I have a lot of food sensitivities)
Thyroid profile:
TSH: 1.8 mUI/L (Range: 0.25 - 5.0)
T3: 83.3 ng/dL (Normal range: 76.3 - 220.8)
FT4: 10.0 pmol/L (Normal range: 8.0 - 19)
I guess everything is normal. :)
Nevertheless, as I reported in another thread, I'm feeling tired often, having some moody days, a lot of food sensitivity and some trouble to sleep, Psyche already told me to give some support to my adrenals, so I'm taking Vit C, lots of Magnesium, B-complex, Potassium when I do a lot of exercise, Fish Oil, and Melatoning before going to bed. That's it for now. I will go to our MD during the week and see what he comes up with as well... Is there any other important test that I should be considering? Because maybe he will ask for some more tests, so I can ask him to add something to the prescription.
Acid Yazz said:
Your tests look very impressive :)
The only thing that raised a flag was the ferritin, ideally it should be under 80 so you might have some iron overload which might be causing the fatigue. In that case I would not take lots of vitamin C as it will compound the problem. If you want to know for sure your iron overload status, you can ask for iron, transferrin, TIBC and ferritin. Also some markers of inflammation like C reactive protein (CRP) and even HbA1c. I assume the MCV from the hemogram is within range (Volumen corpuscular medio - VCM), but you could find out about vitamin status levels of B12 and folate.
Perhaps your practitioner will recommend something more specific for adrenal support. Adrenal cortex (not the medulla) supplements work fairly well in case of immune issues and it is available without prescription.
My 2 cents!
Thanks a lot Psyche!
I think my MD is not very aware of the iron overload issues. I did send him some emails containing information about it, but I don't know if he had the chance to read it. That's not a problem though since he's absolutely open to new information, so it's just a matter of discussing it a bit more on the next meeting with him, and I'll tell him that we could do some more tests to see that iron profile more specifically. And I won't take too much Vit C. I'll also stop eating the liver paté that I've made a few days ago... :P
I'm very happy with my results, and, as you know from other threads, I guess that it's just a time of lots of emotional things happening so I guess my adrenals can be a little exhausted.
I wanted to know if you think that I should test the liver function as well, he didn't ask for that but I sometimes think that my liver needs some extra support as well. If you think it would be a good thing to do, what tests would you recommend to have an overview of the liver's function?
I think my MD is not very aware of the iron overload issues. I did send him some emails containing information about it, but I don't know if he had the chance to read it. That's not a problem though since he's absolutely open to new information, so it's just a matter of discussing it a bit more on the next meeting with him, and I'll tell him that we could do some more tests to see that iron profile more specifically. And I won't take too much Vit C. I'll also stop eating the liver paté that I've made a few days ago... :P
I'm very happy with my results, and, as you know from other threads, I guess that it's just a time of lots of emotional things happening so I guess my adrenals can be a little exhausted.
I wanted to know if you think that I should test the liver function as well, he didn't ask for that but I sometimes think that my liver needs some extra support as well. If you think it would be a good thing to do, what tests would you recommend to have an overview of the liver's function?
Acid Yazz said:If you think it would be a good thing to do, what tests would you recommend to have an overview of the liver's function?
Standard liver function tests will do. Sluggish liver issues are also associated with food sensitivities. I know that one well! :P Here is a good protocol for this problem:
http://www.sott.net/article/241808-Milk-Thistle-Boosting-Your-Liver-Function-The-Natural-Way
At the very least milk thistle and perhaps even ALA. I think that decanting some iron will help you, but it will be nice if you can confirm this overload with the other parameters. They will draw blood for the analysis which is already decanting ;) Perhaps a blood donation now and EDTA later would be a way to go though.
Psyche said:Acid Yazz said:If you think it would be a good thing to do, what tests would you recommend to have an overview of the liver's function?
Standard liver function tests will do. Sluggish liver issues are also associated with food sensitivities. I know that one well! :P Here is a good protocol for this problem:
http://www.sott.net/article/241808-Milk-Thistle-Boosting-Your-Liver-Function-The-Natural-Way
Yes! That is why I'm thinking about the liver. I've read that food sensitivities can be related to a sluggish liver. Thanks for the link! I'll check that.
Psyche said:
I took milk thistle for a period of time and now that you mention, I think that I felt quite well during that period. I'll do the testing first and then decide how to proceed.
I can't donate blood because I have less than 53 kilos, but maybe I can get a prescription to do it from this MD after I do the testing for the other parameters and if I share some more info about iron overload with him. ;)
I still couldn't find EDTA here in my country, but if the iron overload is confirmed and the decanting isn't enough I will consider bringing it from the US.
Thanks again!
Psalehesost
The Living Force
SeekinTruth said:Psyche said:Psalehesost said:
That is an impressive steady improvement!
Yup. Just continue with it and donate blood whenever you can. If it turns out to be only around 4 times a year, it will be like a maintenance decanting schedule (after your ferritin levels are in a good range - like below 80 ng/ml) that will keep your iron status from rising again.
The good: I'll be making a first blood donation in about a week.
The bad: When tested near the end of November, cholesterol values hadn't improved further. Instead they had gone back to this:
Total cholesterol: 9.3 mmol/l
Triglycerides: 3.2 mmol/l
HDL: 1.1 mmol/l
LDL: 6.7 mmol/l
Which is (see: earlier values) about the same as it was in August - better than in July, but worse than in September.
(Now, naturally, the doctor wants to give me statins - preaching the virtues of them and saying in all seriousness that a lot more people should be taking them from a young age for preventive purposes, since they are so beneficial and have so few side effects. I'll of course kindly decline when she calls back.)
While I've not done an EDTA cycle for a while now - since I thought it best to re-mineralize for a while, and now will soon make a blood donation - I didn't expect a reversal. I think either: (1) the values fluctuate a lot; (2) EDTA does more than remove iron, and this improves values further but only short-term; (3) I build iron incredibly fast (not so likely); (4) some combination.
Psalehesost, did you get your iron panel checked in the latest blood test? Yes, the lipid panel is an indirect measure that may be indicating inflammation/oxidation due to iron loading, but since you're doing a blood test anyway, you should keep an eye on the ferritin. Cholesterol numbers fluctuate all the time, by the way. The triglycerides are much more meaningful, and yours being (consistently) high when you've been on a very low carb diet is the puzzling part.
So, perhaps, concentrate on getting your ferritin into the 60 to 80 ng/ml range, and keeping it there. Then see if the triglycerides will normalize (it should really be very low in the normal range on this diet). The cholesterol and vehicles (LDL, HDL) will probably improve too, but they're less meaningful, fluctuate constantly, and if triglycerides are really good, that would indicate that the LDL is the non-dangerous, "fluffy" and large particle kind, rather than the small, dense kind that builds plaques. Maybe Psyche or someone else will add some more input. FWIW.
So, perhaps, concentrate on getting your ferritin into the 60 to 80 ng/ml range, and keeping it there. Then see if the triglycerides will normalize (it should really be very low in the normal range on this diet). The cholesterol and vehicles (LDL, HDL) will probably improve too, but they're less meaningful, fluctuate constantly, and if triglycerides are really good, that would indicate that the LDL is the non-dangerous, "fluffy" and large particle kind, rather than the small, dense kind that builds plaques. Maybe Psyche or someone else will add some more input. FWIW.
Psalehesost
The Living Force
SeekinTruth said:
No, not checked. And for any future tests, ferritin or otherwise, I'll first have to look for a private practice. (When you go to a standard "care central" in Sweden, you only get the services you are deemed to need. I only got the chance to measure ferritin the first time because the doctor must have seen it as a way to get me to comply with other tests became interested in - after she became very alarmed by my diet.)
So, I'll have to look into private practices.
Below are the blood test results (fasting) for my wife.
Total Cholesterol: 7.0 mmol/L
HDL: 2.08 mmol/L
LDL: 3.73 mmol/L
Total/HDL Ratio: 3.4
Triglycerides: 0.9 mmol/L
Serum Iron: 23 umol/L
Transferrin IBC: 61 umol/L
Transferrin Sat: 37%
Serum Ferritin: 77 ug/L
Serum Transferrin: 2.7
She's worried about her cholesterol levels. I think that's not a problem in and of itself, but indicative of some inflammation in the body, which coincides with her complaints about usual insomnia, tiredness and breathing difficulties at night. The transferrin saturation also caught my eyes as it seems very high. As for the diet, my wife is eating a lot of meat and vegetables, although she's still not able to cut out gluten and dairy completely (mostly as snack/comfort foods when she gets tired).
If anyone has any comments or advices regarding the above, it would be appreciated!
Total Cholesterol: 7.0 mmol/L
HDL: 2.08 mmol/L
LDL: 3.73 mmol/L
Total/HDL Ratio: 3.4
Triglycerides: 0.9 mmol/L
Serum Iron: 23 umol/L
Transferrin IBC: 61 umol/L
Transferrin Sat: 37%
Serum Ferritin: 77 ug/L
Serum Transferrin: 2.7
She's worried about her cholesterol levels. I think that's not a problem in and of itself, but indicative of some inflammation in the body, which coincides with her complaints about usual insomnia, tiredness and breathing difficulties at night. The transferrin saturation also caught my eyes as it seems very high. As for the diet, my wife is eating a lot of meat and vegetables, although she's still not able to cut out gluten and dairy completely (mostly as snack/comfort foods when she gets tired).
If anyone has any comments or advices regarding the above, it would be appreciated!
Bobo08 said:
If she is worried about her cholesterol, perhaps that will encourage her to completely eliminate out gluten and dairy:
Cholesterol belly
http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2012/12/cholesterol-belly/
Allen kicks his cholesterol panel in the butt!
http://www.wheatbellyblog.com/2013/03/allen-kicks-his-cholesterol-panel-in-the-butt/
:)
happyliza
The Living Force
Help much appreciated and feedback!
Below are blood and urine tests I had done in October. I do not understand them and the doctor only spoke to me on the phone telling me I had high cholesterol and liver problems and that he would put a low fat diet sheet in my file to collect.
Needless to say I quietly went in to the surgery and collected the results I had paid for but don’t really interpret them properly, especially in terms of our diet/regime so I would be grateful of any help understanding what I have used as a base – point for the Paleo/Keto regime.
Previously I posted about my anemia, low red blood cells and inablility to assimilate nutrients (or so it seemed), fainting feelings, lack of oxygen to brain etc.
Now it appears my iron is high!!! All I did was take feraglobin (from a supermarket) for about 2 months max. Will this even out by itself? Or is haemochromatosis now the problem?
I am not 100% on keto as still have to do detox, food sensitivities and am still on the reconstituted potato powder – which works nicely, with no known bad effects to my knowledge, but keeps me at optimum weight and warmth for the winter months here! I do take a lot of tumeric and coconut oil (for inflammation and knee and shoulder pain) along with Vit B, Cod liver oil, Digestive enzymes and Vit C, plus magnesium. Occasionally probiotics and immune booster tincture and lobelia (homeopathic) for my lungs if they get congested etc.
The Bad: I strayed over the festive period with wine and chocolate. Sugar cravings I think.
Sorry this is from a Turkish laboratory, I have had help translating some however the capital letters below no-one seems to understand and I don’t wish to revisit my surgery for obvious reasons.
Laboratory Tests 8.10.2013
Bun 13 mg/dl 7 – 17
Kreatinin 0.7 mg/dl 0.7 – 1.2
WBC 7.9 10 8/mm 3 4.0 / 10.0
RBC 4.71 10 6/mm 3 3.00 / 6.50
HGB 14.6 g/d1 11.5 / 17.0
HCT 42.6 % 37.0 / 54.0
MCV 91 um 3 80 / 100
MCH 30.9 pg 27.0 / 32.0
MCHC 34.1 g/d1 32.0 / 36.0
RDW 14.5 % 11.0 / 16.0
PLT 225 10 3 / mm 3 150 / 500
MPV 8.3 um 3 6.0 / 11.0
PCT 0.187 % 0.150 / 0.500
PDW 14.0 % 11.0 / 18.0
LYM% 32.0 2.58 0.0 / 99,9 1.00 / 4.00
MON% 10.7 0.84 0.0 / 99.9 0.20 / 1.00
NEU% 53.0 4.18 0.0 / 99.9 2.00 / 7.50
EDS% 2.9 0.23 0.0 / 99.9 0.00 / 0.50
BAS% 0.6 0.05 0.0 / 99.9 0.00 / 0.20
ALY% 0.7 0.06 0.0 / 2.5 0.00 / 0.25
LIC% 1.0 0.08 0.0 / 3.0 0.00 / 0.30
GLUKOZ 82 mg/dl 74 – 106
T KOLESTEROL 229 mg/dl FLAG 0 – 200
HDL 60 mg/dl 40 – 60
LDL 155 mg/dl FLAG 0 – 129
TRIGLISERIT 66 mg/dl 0 – 150
T.KOL/HDL 3.8 3.0 – 5.7
ALT 34 U/L 9 – 52
AST 29 U/L 14 – 36
FERRITIN 225 ng/mL FLAG 13 – 150
CORTISOL (7-10am) 18.95 ug/dL 6.2 – 19.4
URINE TEST :
Colour yellow yellow – open yellow
Appearance clear clear
pH 7.5 4.6 – 8.0
Density 1.015 1.000 – 1.030
Lokosit esteraz NEGATIVE NEGATIVE
Nitrite NEGATIVE NEGATIVE
Urobiology NORMAL NORMAL
Protein NEGATIVE NEGATIVE
Blood NEGATIVE NEGATIVE
Ketone NEGATIVE NEGATIVE
Bilrubin NEGATIVE NEGATIVE
Glucose NEGATIVE NEGATIVE
Microscope: Nadir Lokosit, Nadir Epiatel, 4 -5 Eritrosit
Below are blood and urine tests I had done in October. I do not understand them and the doctor only spoke to me on the phone telling me I had high cholesterol and liver problems and that he would put a low fat diet sheet in my file to collect.
Needless to say I quietly went in to the surgery and collected the results I had paid for but don’t really interpret them properly, especially in terms of our diet/regime so I would be grateful of any help understanding what I have used as a base – point for the Paleo/Keto regime.
Previously I posted about my anemia, low red blood cells and inablility to assimilate nutrients (or so it seemed), fainting feelings, lack of oxygen to brain etc.
Now it appears my iron is high!!! All I did was take feraglobin (from a supermarket) for about 2 months max. Will this even out by itself? Or is haemochromatosis now the problem?
I am not 100% on keto as still have to do detox, food sensitivities and am still on the reconstituted potato powder – which works nicely, with no known bad effects to my knowledge, but keeps me at optimum weight and warmth for the winter months here! I do take a lot of tumeric and coconut oil (for inflammation and knee and shoulder pain) along with Vit B, Cod liver oil, Digestive enzymes and Vit C, plus magnesium. Occasionally probiotics and immune booster tincture and lobelia (homeopathic) for my lungs if they get congested etc.
The Bad: I strayed over the festive period with wine and chocolate. Sugar cravings I think.
Sorry this is from a Turkish laboratory, I have had help translating some however the capital letters below no-one seems to understand and I don’t wish to revisit my surgery for obvious reasons.
Laboratory Tests 8.10.2013
Bun 13 mg/dl 7 – 17
Kreatinin 0.7 mg/dl 0.7 – 1.2
WBC 7.9 10 8/mm 3 4.0 / 10.0
RBC 4.71 10 6/mm 3 3.00 / 6.50
HGB 14.6 g/d1 11.5 / 17.0
HCT 42.6 % 37.0 / 54.0
MCV 91 um 3 80 / 100
MCH 30.9 pg 27.0 / 32.0
MCHC 34.1 g/d1 32.0 / 36.0
RDW 14.5 % 11.0 / 16.0
PLT 225 10 3 / mm 3 150 / 500
MPV 8.3 um 3 6.0 / 11.0
PCT 0.187 % 0.150 / 0.500
PDW 14.0 % 11.0 / 18.0
LYM% 32.0 2.58 0.0 / 99,9 1.00 / 4.00
MON% 10.7 0.84 0.0 / 99.9 0.20 / 1.00
NEU% 53.0 4.18 0.0 / 99.9 2.00 / 7.50
EDS% 2.9 0.23 0.0 / 99.9 0.00 / 0.50
BAS% 0.6 0.05 0.0 / 99.9 0.00 / 0.20
ALY% 0.7 0.06 0.0 / 2.5 0.00 / 0.25
LIC% 1.0 0.08 0.0 / 3.0 0.00 / 0.30
GLUKOZ 82 mg/dl 74 – 106
T KOLESTEROL 229 mg/dl FLAG 0 – 200
HDL 60 mg/dl 40 – 60
LDL 155 mg/dl FLAG 0 – 129
TRIGLISERIT 66 mg/dl 0 – 150
T.KOL/HDL 3.8 3.0 – 5.7
ALT 34 U/L 9 – 52
AST 29 U/L 14 – 36
FERRITIN 225 ng/mL FLAG 13 – 150
CORTISOL (7-10am) 18.95 ug/dL 6.2 – 19.4
URINE TEST :
Colour yellow yellow – open yellow
Appearance clear clear
pH 7.5 4.6 – 8.0
Density 1.015 1.000 – 1.030
Lokosit esteraz NEGATIVE NEGATIVE
Nitrite NEGATIVE NEGATIVE
Urobiology NORMAL NORMAL
Protein NEGATIVE NEGATIVE
Blood NEGATIVE NEGATIVE
Ketone NEGATIVE NEGATIVE
Bilrubin NEGATIVE NEGATIVE
Glucose NEGATIVE NEGATIVE
Microscope: Nadir Lokosit, Nadir Epiatel, 4 -5 Eritrosit
happyliza said:
So the numbers on the far right are the Reference Ranges, right? And it seems the only thing shown on the results that are out of range are the Total Cholesterol at 229 mg/dl (which is not anything to worry about at all), LDL at 155 mg/dl (which is normal in some lab reference ranges, but not "ideal" and again nothing to get worked up about); and ferritin at 225 ng/ml which IS quite high. Your triglycerides are excellent at 66 mg/dl, making the LDL results even less concerning. The likelihood is that your LDL particles are of the fluffy, large kind that pose no danger and that the LDL results may even be overestimated if it wasn't a direct measurement, but the standard formula was used to figure it out.
No one on a high carb diet would have the low triglyceride results you have. All these taken together, point to the likelihood that your cholesterol and the transfer mechanisms - LDL and HDL - are not getting oxidized and glycated.
The ferritin is a concern as every point above 150 greatly increases risks of many serious diseases. You should concentrate on getting that into the range of 60 to 80 ng/ml. You can decant/donate blood and/or use EDTA chelation.
Hope that helps. Others will probably have other comments to add.