Your doctor says everything looks fine, but you still feel terrible. The problem might not be your health but how labs define “normal.” Understanding the difference between normal and optimal could ...

Run-of-the mill? Middle of the road? Typical? The chance that you are correct is vanishingly small. If you're a clinician, like me, you get a LOT of medical questions. While we've all been asked to ...

Laboratory testing supports most clinical decision-making; however, the concept of a fixed “normal” value is theoretical. Studies have suggested that approximately 7 out of 10 clinical decisions rely ...

You receive a phone call: the results from routine blood tests show a “low white cell count”. Your doctor explains that more investigations are necessary, perhaps a referral to the haematologists.

Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on . Researchers created thyroid function reference ranges adjusted for age, sex and racial-ethnic background. Using ...

Labs calculate normal by testing everyone who walks through the door, including patients with undiagnosed conditions and chronic diseases. The middle 95 percent becomes the reference range, whether ...