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
- VO2 max for general fitness
- Bone density (Dexa)
- Fat percentage (Dexa)
- Muscle percentage (Dexa)
- Blood Pressure
- HRV – Oura
- Heart rate – Apple watch
- Sleep length & quality (REM, Deep) -through Oura and Apple Watch
- Oxygen %
- Urinary pH
- Ketones
Complete Blood Count (CBC):
- WBC (neutrophil, eosinophil, basophil, lymphocyte, monocyte)
- RBCs, Hematocrit, Hemoglobin, RDW, MCH, MCHC, MCV
- Platelets
Glucose control/insulin sensitivity:
- Fasting Glucose
- HbA1C
- Insulin
- C Peptide
- Fructosamine
Blood minerals:
- Calcium (CMP)
- Potassium (CMP)
- Sodium (CMP)
- Chloride (CMP)
- Iron, TIBC
- Ferritin
- Phosphorous
Inflammation:
- Hs-CRP
- Ferritin
- ESR
- IgA
- IgE
- IgG
- IgM
- Complement C3
- Complement C4
- Food IgG antigens
- IgE antigens
Lipids/Lipoproteins/Cardiac:
- Triglycerides
- LP(A)/Lipoprotein(a)
- APOB
- APOA1
- LDL-C
- VLDL
- HDL-C
- LDL particle number and size
- LP-PLA2
- Homocysteine
- Coronary CT Calcium Scan
Hormones:
- Total Testosterone
- Free Testosterone
- DHT
- DHEAS
- DHEA
- SHBG
- Estradiol
- Free T3
- Total T3
- Total T4
- Free T4
- TSH
- Cortisol
- IGF1
- Parathyroid hormone (PTH)
- LH
- FSH
- Aldosterone
- Progesterone
- Prolactin
- Others: 17-Hydroxyprogesterone, Androstenedione, Corticosterone, Deoxycortisol
Kidney:
- Cystatin C
- BUN/Urea (CMP)
- Creatinine (CMP)
- eGFR (CMP)
- CO2 (CMP)
- Uric Acid
- Urinalysis (Urinary protein, Albumin, etc…)
Liver:
- GGT
- Total protein (CMP)
- Albumin (CMP)
- Globulin (CMP)
- ALT (CMP)
- AST (CMP)
- Alkaline Phosphatase (CMP)
- Ammonia
- Bilirubin
Pancreas:
- Amylase
- Lipase
Nutrients (serum):
- Zinc
- Copper
- Ceruloplasmin
- Folate
- B12
- Methylmalonic acid
- Selenium
- Chromium
- Manganese
- Vanadium
- Nickle
- Molybdenum
- B1/Thiamine
- B2/Riboflavin
- B3/Nicotinic Acid
- Biotin
- Vitamin D
- Vitamin A
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin K
- Strontium
Heavy Metals/Toxins:
- Lead
- Arsenic
- Cadmium
- Mercury
- Aluminum
- Tin
- Antimony
- Others: Thallium, Uranium, Cesium, Silver, Nickel, Beryllium, Barium, Bismuth
Muscle:
- Creatine Kinase
- LDH
Fatty Acids:
- EPA
- DHA
- Arachidonic acid
- GLA
- DGLA
- ALA
- Linoleic acid
- Oleic acid
- Palmitic acid
- Palmitoleic acid
- Stearic acid
- Myristic acid
Amino Acids:
- 3-Methylhistidine
- ALPHA-AMINOADIPIC ACID
- ALPHA-AMINOBUTYRIC ACID
- Alanine
- Anserine
- Arginine
- Asparagine
- ARGININOSUCCINIC ACID
- Aspartic Acid
- Beta alanine
- BETA-AMINOISOBUTYRIC ACID
- Citrulline
- Cystathionine
- Cystine
- GABA
- Glutamine
- Glutamic acid
- Glycine,
- Histidine
- Hydroxylysine
- Hydroxyproline
- Isoleucine
- Leucine
- Lysine
- Methionine
- N-Methylhistidine
- Ornithine
- Phenylalanine
- Proline
- Sarcosine
- Serine
- Threonine
- Tryptophan
- Tyrosine
- Valine
Autoimmune:
-
- Anti-Tg
- ANA
- Anti-CCP
- Rheumatoid factor
- Anti-TPO
Cancer/Tumor Markers:
- Grail cancer cell blood test
- Whole body MRIe
- AFP
- Beta HCG
- CA19.9
- CEA
- PSA
- Free PSA
Fertility:
- Sperm count
- Sperm volume
- Sperm motility
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
