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Measuring My Health: Lab Tests & Data Points I Track

Written by Joe Cohen, BS | Last updated:

Lab Tests I Track Regularly

Cardiovascular and kidney health are two of the most important areas in health in terms of the scale of mortality. Also, they are easily trackable and you can slow down the disease progression by quite a lot through supplements and lifestyle. I can feel amazing, but you don’t necessarily feel that you are getting cardiovascular or kidney disease.

Most of the time, people only find out very late in their development. For example, 9/10 people with kidney disease don’t know they have it – and 1/7 adults in the US have it.

This list is not exhaustive, but these are the tests that I like to measure more often – ideally every 4 months.

General Health:

  • Weight
  • Blood Pressure – CVD, Kidney –  blood pressure cuff
  • HRV – Oura
  • Heart rate – Apple watch
  • Sleep length & quality (REM, Deep) -through Oura and Apple Watch
  • Oxygen %
  • Urinary pH – Longevity
  • Ketones

Complete Blood Count (CBC):

Glucose control/insulin sensitivity:

  • Fasting Glucose – Diabetes, CVD
  • HbA1C – Diabetes, CVD
  • Insulin – CVD

Blood minerals:

Inflammation:

  • Hs-CRP – CVD, Kidney
  • Ferritin

Lipids/Lipoproteins/Cardiac:

  • Triglycerides
  • LP(A)/Lipoprotein(a) – CVD, Kidney (casual and marker)
  • APOB – CVD
  • LDL-C – CVD, Kidney
  • VLDL – CVD
  • HDL
  • LDL particle number and size – CVD
  • LP-PLA2 – CVD
  • Homocysteine – CVD2, Kidney

Hormones:

  • Total Testosterone
  • Free Testosterone
  • DHT
  • DHEAS – CVD, Kidney
  • SHBG
  • Estradiol
  • Free T3 – CVD
  • Total T3 – Thyroid, Kidney, CVD
  • Total T4
  • Free T4
  • TSH

Kidney:

Liver:

STD panel:

  • HIV
  • Chlamydia
  • Syphilis
  • HSV

Pancreas:

Nutrients (serum):

  • Zinc
  • Copper
  • Folate
  • B12
  • Vitamin D
  • Selenium – Kidney
  • Chromium – Kidney
  • Molybdenum
  • B1/Thiamine
  • B2/Riboflavin
  • B3/Nicotinic Acid
  • Biotin
  • Vitamin E
  • Vitamin K
  • Cortisol

Heavy Metals:

  • Lead
  • Arsenic
  • Cadmium
  • Mercury
  • Aluminum

Muscle:

  • Creatine Kinase
  • LDH

Less frequent tests

These are good to check less frequently:

  • Fructosamine
  • VO2 max
  • Bone density (Dexa scan)
  • 8-oxoguanine
  • TMAO – CVD
  • Klotho
  • Carnitine
  • Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) – CVD
  • Von Willebrand factor
  • Fibrinogen
  • NT-proBNP
  • Circulating amino acids – glycine, alanine, glutamine, lysine, leucine, etc.
  • Sperm motility
  • Ankle–brachial pressure index
  • Coronary CT Calcium Scan
  • Coronary CT Angiography
  • OxPL-apoB (Oxidized phospholipids)
  • oxLDL – CVD
  • Carotid IMT (ultrasound)
  • Myoglobin
  • Anti-TPO
  • Anti-Tg
  • ANA
  • Anti-CCP
  • Rheumatoid factor
  • IgA
  • IgE
  • IgG
  • IgM
  • Complement C3
  • Complement C4
  • CH50
  • Cortisol – CVD
  • Calcitriol (1,25 Vit D)
  • IGF1 – Kidney
  • Pregnenolone
  • Prolactin
  • Parathyroid hormone (PTH)
  • LH
  • FSH
  • Aldosterone
  • VIP

Qualitative Measures That I Track

I keep a close eye on these metrics, many of which are qualitative, but I am still quite aware of all of these.

Make sure to check this post on 10 essential blood tests to get.

Sleep quality

  • Time it takes to fall asleep
  • Number of midnight wakings
  • Waking up feeling refreshed

Cognitive function

  • Reasoning – my day involves a lot of reasoning
  • Reading comprehension – my day involves a lot of reading comprehension
  • Verbal ability (including number of filler words used)
  • Attention – I need to be focused in the day
  • Alertness
  • Working memory (including keeping track of volleyball scores)
  • Memory – I am required to memorize a lot of information

Mood

  • General mood
  • Anxiety
  • Stress tolerance
  • Insecurity
  • Negative thoughts
  • Anxious behaviors – including how much I fiddle with hair, nails, eyebrows, lip biting, etc…)

Energy

  • Energy levels
  • Motivation
  • Sex drive
  • Exercise tolerance
  • Exercise performance
  • Stamina

Gut health

  • Bloating

Other

  • Frequency of infections or feeling close to getting one and recovery length
  • White hairs
  • Wrinkles
  • Body composition
  • Tinea versicolor infection

About the Author

Joe Cohen, BS

Joe Cohen, BS

Joe Cohen flipped the script on conventional and alternative medicine…and it worked. Growing up, he suffered from inflammation, brain fog, fatigue, digestive problems, insomnia, anxiety, and other issues that were poorly understood in traditional healthcare. Frustrated by the lack of good information and tools, Joe decided to embark on a learning journey to decode his DNA and track his biomarkers in search of better health. Through this personalized approach, he discovered his genetic weaknesses and was able to optimize his health 10X better than he ever thought was possible. Based on his own health success, he went on to found SelfDecode, the world’s first direct-to-consumer DNA analyzer & precision health tool that utilizes AI-driven polygenic risk scoring to produce accurate insights and health recommendations. Today, SelfDecode has helped over 100,000 people understand how to get healthier using their DNA and labs.
Joe is a thriving entrepreneur, with a mission of empowering people to take advantage of the precision health revolution and uncover insights from their DNA and biomarkers so that we can all feel great all of the time.

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