Functional Blood Chemistry Analysis

What is Functional Blood Chemistry?

Not all physicians interpret blood tests the same way.

There two main types of reference ranges in the field of blood chemistry analysis: a Pathological range and a Functional range. A pathological range is the range that labs like Lab Corps or Quest will include when you have blood drawn. Doctors will look at these ranges and if your results fall within this range, your test result is “Normal” and there is nothing wrong with you. This happens every day with patients who have Thyroid disease, Insulin resistance, etc…

Health is Not Black and White

If we rely on these ranges health and disease becomes a very black and white issue. If you are in the range you are normal and “healthy” and if you are out of range you are “sick”. Unfortunately, sickness and disease and even health come in varying shades of gray. This is why doctors who focus on Root Cause medicine or Functional Medicine often pay more attention to “Functional laboratory ranges”.

Functional Ranges are considered sub-clinical and can indicate the beginning stages of disease. They should be used as bio-markers indicating a developing condition, another way of saying is that you are sick but you are not sick enough to be treated… at least not yet.

Most traditional doctors use only the Pathological ranges, and do not address the sub-clinical findings until they become a serious medical condition, where either drugs and surgery are your options. The goal is to identify developing nutritional problems and prevent them from manifesting into a serious medical condition. This will help us on our path to true health and a better quality of life.