Lab tests

Alkaline phosphatase helps evaluate bile-flow problems and bone turnover, but it should not be read in isolation: GGT, bilirubin, calcium, phosphorus, symptoms, and overall context are essential.

Alpha-amylase helps evaluate carbohydrate digestion and pancreatic stress, but it should be interpreted together with lipase, glucose, abdominal symptoms, and the overall digestive context.

Shows the number of atherogenic lipoprotein particles more accurately than standard LDL-C, which makes it especially useful in insulin resistance, high triglycerides, discordant lipid panels, and real vascular-risk assessment.

The atherogenic index helps estimate the balance between atherogenic and protective lipid fractions, but it should be interpreted together with the full lipid profile, triglycerides, and metabolic context.

Reflect autoimmune activity against thyroid tissue and help evaluate the likelihood of autoimmune thyroiditis only when interpreted with TSH, free T4, free T3, ultrasound findings and clinical context.

Bioelectrical impedance analysis estimates body composition from the electrical resistance of tissues. It can help track trends under standardized conditions, but it does not measure fat and muscle directly: results depend on hydration, food, exercise, posture, the device, and its prediction equation.

A microbiome biopsy studies the microbial composition of tissue or mucosa, usually obtained during endoscopy. It may be closer to mucosa-associated microbes than stool, but it is invasive and often research-oriented rather than a consumer test for choosing diet or probiotics.

Blood albumin helps assess protein status, hepatic synthetic function, fluid distribution, and overall metabolic reserve, but it should be read together with total protein, liver markers, and clinical context.

The Osipov GC-MS microbial marker test looks for microbial traces in blood and is used as an indirect way to assess a broader mucosal microbiota pattern, but it should not be read as a standalone diagnosis apart from symptoms, stool data, breath tests, and the full clinical picture.

Testing microbial DNA or microorganisms in blood requires very cautious interpretation: blood is not normally treated as a regular microbiome ecosystem, and findings may reflect infection, translocation, contamination or a research signal. It is not a consumer test for choosing probiotics.

C-peptide helps show how much insulin the pancreas is actually making on its own and is useful in hypoglycemia workups, diabetes interpretation, and insulin-resistance assessment, but it must be read together with glucose, insulin, and the clinical setting.

Stool calprotectin helps estimate the likelihood of bowel inflammation and is useful when distinguishing an organic inflammatory process from more functional gastrointestinal complaints.

The CARO index is a calculated ratio of fasting glucose to fasting insulin that can support the assessment of insulin resistance, but it should be interpreted together with HOMA, HbA1c, and real testing conditions.

Ceruloplasmin helps assess copper transport status and copper-dependent support of iron metabolism, but the result should be interpreted together with ferritin, serum iron, TIBC, and the clinical context.

A coagulation panel evaluates selected parts of blood clotting, commonly PT/INR, APTT, fibrinogen and related markers. It helps assess bleeding risk, anticoagulant monitoring, liver disease and procedure preparation, but it does not guarantee absence of thrombosis.

A basic blood test that evaluates red cells, hemoglobin, white cells and platelets. It can point to anemia, inflammation, infection effects, blood loss and bone-marrow stress, but it does not explain the cause by itself.

A stool study that helps estimate digestion, inflammation, mucus, fat content, fiber remnants and signs of malabsorption, but it always needs to be interpreted together with symptoms and other gastrointestinal tests.

Morning fasting cortisol assesses the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system at a specific moment. It is useful when cortisol deficiency or excess is suspected, but it should not be read as a simple stress score.

Creatinine helps assess kidney filtration and the broader muscle-energy metabolism, but it should be interpreted together with urea, eGFR, urine testing, electrolytes, and clinical context.

Dihydrotestosterone is a more potent androgen formed from testosterone by 5-alpha-reductase. DHT testing is useful in selected hormonal situations, but blood levels do not always reflect local hormone activity in skin, follicles and prostate.

ESR helps detect a general inflammatory or systemic shift, but on its own it does not point to the exact cause and should be interpreted together with CRP, the complete blood count, and the clinical picture.

Fasting glucose helps assess carbohydrate metabolism, but it should be interpreted together with insulin, HbA1c, and clinical context.

Fasting insulin measures how much insulin the pancreas releases after an overnight fast to maintain fasting glucose. It is used when insulin resistance, hyperinsulinemia, hypoglycemia or indices such as HOMA-IR need context.

Reflects iron stores more reliably than serum iron, but as an acute-phase protein it may rise during inflammation, so it should be interpreted with CRP, hemoglobin and transferrin saturation.

Fibrinogen reflects both clotting activity and the overall inflammatory background; persistent elevation warrants review of coagulation, metabolic context, and vascular risk.

The active triiodothyronine fraction helps show whether tissues are receiving enough true thyroid signaling and should be interpreted with TSH, free T4, nutrient status, and the broader metabolic context.

Free T4 reflects the biologically active fraction of thyroxine and helps show how the thyroid is actually functioning, but it should be interpreted together with TSH, sometimes free T3, and the broader clinical picture.

Free testosterone reflects the biologically available fraction of testosterone that is not strongly protein-bound, so it should be interpreted together with total testosterone, SHBG, symptoms, age, body composition and testing conditions.

Fructosamine reflects average glucose exposure over the previous 2 to 3 weeks and is especially useful when HbA1c may be distorted by red-cell problems, but it should be interpreted together with blood glucose, albumin, and the broader clinical picture.

GGT helps assess bile stasis, alcohol or medication-related liver stress, and hepatobiliary load, but it should always be interpreted together with alkaline phosphatase, bilirubin, ALT, AST, and clinical symptoms.

A combined blood test used to estimate gastric mucosal status, acidity and the likelihood of atrophic change; useful for screening, but it does not replace gastroscopy when alarm symptoms are present.

A genetic test for Gilbert syndrome helps determine whether a UGT1A1 variant linked to reduced bilirubin conjugation is present, but it should be interpreted together with bilirubin levels, symptoms, and clinical context.

Shows MTHFR gene variants, but by itself it does not diagnose disease and should be interpreted with homocysteine, B12, folate, symptoms and the actual clinical reason for ordering genetic testing.

HbA1c reflects the share of hemoglobin bound to glucose and helps estimate average glycemia over recent months, but it can be distorted by anemia and altered red blood cell lifespan.

The percentage of glycated hemoglobin, reflecting average glucose exposure over roughly the past 2-3 months. HbA1c is useful for diabetes diagnosis and monitoring, but anemia, pregnancy, hemoglobin variants and altered red-cell lifespan can distort it.

A test using a glucose drink and timed blood glucose measurements; it helps detect diabetes, prediabetes, and gestational diabetes, but preparation matters.

This liver-made regulator of iron metabolism helps show whether iron transport is open to tissues or restricted by inflammation; it is most useful when ferritin, TIBC, transferrin saturation, and the blood count conflict.

hs-CRP helps detect low-grade systemic inflammation that can remain below the threshold of standard CRP and is especially useful in cardiometabolic assessment.

The HOMA index is a calculated marker that helps estimate insulin resistance from fasting glucose and fasting insulin, but it should be interpreted together with HbA1c, waist size, diet, and clinical context.

Shows strain within methylation and methionine metabolism, but it usually rises because of B12, folate or B6 deficiency, hypothyroidism, reduced kidney function or other metabolic disturbances rather than in isolation.

Interleukin-6 reflects inflammatory signaling activity and is especially useful in metabolic inflammation, but it should be interpreted together with CRP, clinical context, and neighboring cardiometabolic markers.

A blood lipase test is used mainly when pancreatic injury is suspected. It should not be treated as a direct measure of fat digestion: the result is interpreted together with amylase, abdominal pain, nausea, liver markers and the broader clinical context.

A lipid panel is a profile of fat metabolism rather than one cholesterol number, so it should be interpreted through the overall pattern: total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides and the wider metabolic context.

Metabolomics studies the collection of small molecules, or metabolites, in blood, urine, tissues, or other samples. It can reveal biological profiles and generate hypotheses, but a commercial metabolomics panel is not a universal diagnosis: results depend on the sample, method, food, medication, and clinical context.

An expanded NMR lipoprotein profile estimates not only cholesterol, but also particle number, size and distribution, which makes it useful when standard lipid testing leaves risk unclear.

The percentage of EPA and DHA in red-blood-cell membranes, reflecting long-chain omega-3 status over recent months. It is more practical than guessing fish-oil intake because it shows whether fish or supplements produced a measurable tissue level.

Serum calcium helps assess mineral balance, bone-related regulation, kidney function, and endocrine control, but it should be read together with vitamin D, magnesium, albumin, and the clinical picture.

Shows how much iron is circulating in serum at the moment of testing, but by itself it does not prove iron deficiency and should be read with ferritin, transferrin saturation, TIBC and inflammation markers.

Serum magnesium helps raise suspicion of magnesium deficiency or excess, but it should be interpreted together with symptoms, kidney function, potassium, calcium, and the broader metabolic context.

Serum transferrin helps show how the body transports iron and whether the pattern may reflect deficiency, inflammation, or poor protein status.

Serum uric acid reflects purine metabolism and helps assess the risk of gout, uric-acid stone formation, impaired renal excretion, and the broader metabolic setting.

Spectral analysis for trace elements is a laboratory study that allows determining the mineral composition of human tissues and identifying metabolic disorders at the cellular level. Unlike blood or urine tests, spectral analysis of hair and nails shows not the current state but the accumulated changes in mineral balance over the past months.

Spectral hair mineral analysis can help assess longer-term mineral patterns, but it should not be read from one number alone: symptoms, diet, protein status, thyroid context, gut function, and the relationship between several elements all matter.

A stool microbiome test describes microbial DNA or bacterial composition in a stool sample, but it is not a universal diagnosis of gut health. Its usefulness depends on method, clinical question and interpretation quality; commercial probiotic and diet advice often requires caution.

Thyroglobulin antibodies help reveal autoimmune thyroid involvement and are meaningful only when interpreted together with TSH, free hormones, ultrasound findings, and the clinical context.

TNF-alpha helps estimate immune-inflammatory activity and is most useful when autoimmune or chronic inflammatory processes need deeper interpretation.

Total bilirubin helps assess bile-pigment metabolism, bile flow, and red-cell breakdown, but it must be interpreted together with direct and indirect fractions, liver enzymes, and clinical context.

The combined concentration of albumin and globulins helps assess dehydration, inflammation, protein loss and liver synthetic function, but it is rarely interpreted apart from albumin, liver, kidney and clinical context.

TIBC shows how actively the blood transport system is prepared to bind iron, which is why it is most useful together with ferritin, serum iron, and transferrin saturation.

Total testosterone measures the combined hormone in blood: SHBG-bound, albumin-bound and a small free fraction. It is useful when androgen deficiency or excess is suspected, but without SHBG, free testosterone and symptoms it can mislead.

Transferrin saturation helps show how much iron is truly available for transport to tissues and becomes especially useful in hidden iron deficiency, unclear anemia, and inflammatory states.

The main screening marker of thyroid regulation, useful only when interpreted together with free T4, free T3, symptoms, thyroid medication use, timing of testing and the broader clinical picture.

Urea helps assess protein turnover, nitrogen load, and indirectly kidney and liver function, but it should always be interpreted together with creatinine, hydration, diet, and clinical context.

Urinalysis helps detect shifts in specific gravity, protein, glucose, bilirubin, ketones, and nitrites, but it should be interpreted with symptoms, hydration, and neighboring laboratory data.

We use urinary estrogen metabolite analysis as an expanded profile and interpret its concentrations and ratios together with the assay method, collection conditions, and clinical context.

Urinary iodine helps estimate current iodine supply, but it should not be interpreted outside the context of diet, thyroid function, pregnancy, and repeated measurements.

Urine organic acids can indirectly reveal hidden B-vitamin insufficiency and functional metabolic bottlenecks that may not be obvious in routine blood chemistry.

Blood cobalamin helps reveal vitamin B12 deficiency and absorption problems, but a normal or high serum value does not always exclude functional deficiency and should be read with blood markers, gut context, and neurologic symptoms.

Blood folate helps reveal vitamin B9 deficiency and absorption problems, but a normal serum result does not always exclude functional deficiency and should be interpreted with vitamin B12, blood markers, and the intestinal context.

Shows the level of 25(OH)D as the main circulating marker of vitamin D status, but it should be interpreted with season, body weight, supplements, magnesium, calcium, PTH and the reason the test was ordered.