18 posts
Most blood analytes do not change enough in a month to beat their own noise. Here is the short panel worth drawing monthly, what belongs on a slower cadence, and how to standardize the draw so the numbers mean something.
There is no single best vendor. What matters is assay methodology, longitudinal consistency, and whether you can get structured data out. Here is how we compare the options and what a 100-biomarker panel really contains.
Upload-a-PDF analyzers mostly do OCR and template text. A better setup is structured lab data with units and LOINC codes, your own longitudinal baseline, and a general reasoning model you drive yourself.
A working account of what belongs in a comprehensive blood panel, which preanalytical variables move the numbers, and how to tell a real change from assay noise using biological variation and reference change values.
A low red cell distribution width means your red blood cells are unusually uniform in size. How to read it alongside MCV, and when it is an artifact.
A technical read of the comprehensive metabolic panel: the fourteen analytes, the derived quantities worth computing, and the common errors.
How to choose a blood test cadence from analyte kinetics and biological variation, how to tell a real change from assay noise using reference change values, and how to structure the data so you can analyze it yourself.
MCHC is a computed ratio of hemoglobin to hematocrit, and most high values are analyzer artifacts rather than biology. How to tell the difference using your own CBC history, and the few red cell conditions that genuinely raise it.
An extended panel measures a few dozen analytes. How to choose them, how to space the draws, and how to store the results so you can compute on them.
Which vitamin and mineral analytes are worth measuring, which ones are nearly uninterpretable in serum, and how preanalytical handling and inflammation decide whether your panel means anything.
Mean platelet volume is a derived number from a fitted histogram, and it drifts with tube age and analyzer model. Here is how to tell a real low MPV from a preanalytical artifact, and what to measure alongside it.
A technical assessment of the consumer blood panel companies: who runs the assays, what the $349-$499 membership buys, how to get structured data out, and why a 100-biomarker panel flags something for almost everyone.
What a blood biomarker test measures, what it costs and how to get the numbers out. Covers the math that shows whether a change between draws is real.
A blood panel for athletes and the timing rules that make its numbers interpretable. Covers reference change arithmetic and exporting lab data.
A working list of blood biomarkers that change decisions, why panel size is a poor proxy for value, and how to handle biological variation so you don't chase noise.
A direct look at what a maximal blood panel contains and which assays add real information. Covers marketing claims and getting the raw data.
No single lifespan blood test exists. A small set of analytes together predicts all-cause mortality. How to order, store and recompute them.
There is no single 'Huberman blood test.' Here is the panel that gets discussed on the podcast, which markers carry real signal, and how to get the data in a form you can analyze yourself.