Understanding your reports
One value in bold, a range next to it, and no explanation. These pages take the tests that come up most often in Indian practice and explain what each line measures, what the number means, and what is worth doing about it.
Fasting Insulin & HOMA-IR
The two numbers that show insulin resistance years before glucose moves. What HOMA-IR is calculated from, why the printed reference range is misleadingly wide, and how far to trust a single reading.
Covers: Fasting insulin, Fasting plasma glucose, HOMA-IR, Triglyceride to HDL ratio, HbA1c
Read this reportFerritin
Ferritin measures your iron stores — and falls long before haemoglobin does. Why low ferritin with a normal haemoglobin is a real finding, why inflammation can hide it, and what a raised ferritin does and does not indicate.
Covers: Ferritin, Haemoglobin, Transferrin saturation, Serum iron, Total iron binding capacity (TIBC)
Read this reportHbA1c
HbA1c estimates your average blood glucose over roughly three months. Here is how to read the number, what shifts it that has nothing to do with sugar, and what a borderline result should prompt.
Covers: HbA1c, Estimated average glucose, Fasting plasma glucose
Read this reportLipid Profile
Total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides and non-HDL. Why the target depends on your risk rather than on the printed range, and why South Asians are assessed differently.
Covers: Total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, Triglycerides, Non-HDL cholesterol
Read this reportLiver Function Test (LFT)
SGPT, SGOT, bilirubin, albumin, ALP. What each line on an LFT is actually measuring, and why a single raised enzyme is a reason to look again rather than to panic.
Covers: SGPT (ALT), SGOT (AST), Total bilirubin, Serum albumin, Alkaline phosphatase (ALP)
Read this reportThyroid Profile (TSH, T3, T4)
TSH, T3, T4 and anti-TPO. Why TSH moves first and moves most, what a mildly raised TSH does and does not mean, and why one reading is rarely enough to act on.
Covers: TSH, Free T4 (FT4), Total T4, Total T3, Anti-TPO antibodies
Read this reportUltrasound Abdomen — Fatty Liver Grades
Grade 1, 2 and 3 fatty liver, and the other measurements printed alongside them. What the grade describes, what it cannot tell you, and why the scarring question matters far more than the number.
Covers: Liver span (right lobe, craniocaudal), Portal vein diameter, Spleen length, Common bile duct diameter, Gallbladder wall thickness
Read this reportVitamin B12
Serum B12, and the grey zone between deficient and normal. Why deficiency is so common in India, what homocysteine and MMA add, and why a borderline value is a question rather than an answer.
Covers: Vitamin B12 (serum), Homocysteine, Methylmalonic acid (MMA), Serum folate, Mean corpuscular volume (MCV)
Read this reportVitamin D
25-hydroxy vitamin D, the number almost everyone in India gets flagged on. What the thresholds mean, why deficiency is so widespread in a sunny country, and what the result is actually read alongside.
Covers: 25-hydroxy vitamin D, Serum calcium (total), Serum phosphate, Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), Parathyroid hormone (PTH, intact)
Read this report