Nurse Niki

The library

What is the difference between an optimal and a normal lab range?

A normal range is a statistical description of the people who happened to be tested at that lab — it tells you where most results fall, not where you feel well. An optimal range is narrower and describes where function tends to be best. You can sit inside normal and still be a long way from optimal.

This is the single idea most of my patients arrive without, and it explains why so many of them have been told nothing is wrong.

Reference ranges are built from a population, and populations include a lot of people who are tired, stressed and unwell. Being inside that range means you resemble that group. It does not mean your body is doing what you need it to do.

So when I look at your labs, I am not asking whether a number is flagged. I am asking where it sits, what the numbers around it are doing, and whether the pattern matches the way you have described feeling. A result near the bottom of normal with symptoms that fit is a finding, not a nothing.

What I will not do is treat a number on its own. The labs describe the terrain; you describe the experience. A plan needs both.

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