Value of Blood Testing

Blood has a lot to tell us about our state of health and the blood chemistry and CBC / hematology test is the most commonly ordered medical lab test worldwide. These blood tests are an integral part of Western clinical medicine and are used to aid in the diagnostic decision-making process.

However, many, many people start to feel unwell long before a traditional blood test becomes diagnostic and more often than not they are told that “everything on your blood test looks normal.”

The issue is not that the blood test is a poor diagnostic tool, we must consider that the ranges used on a traditional lab test are based on statistics and not on whether a certain value represents good health or optimal physiological function.  "Normal” reference ranges usually represent “average” populations rather that the optimal level required to maintain good health.

The Functional Approach

The functional approach to blood testing is oriented around changes in physiology and not pathology, using ranges that are based on optimal physiology and not the “normal” population. This results in a tighter “Functional Physiological Range”, which allows us to evaluate the area within the “Normal” range that indicates that something is not quite right in the physiological systems associated with this biomarker.