Ever wondered what those lab results really mean? Join Dr. Mark and Tandi Hechler, the functional medicine experts behind Revelation Health & Well-Being, as they demystify comprehensive lab testing and empower you to take charge of your health.
In this eye-opening episode, you'll discover:
- The Hidden Clues in Your Labs: Learn how seemingly "normal" results might not be optimal and what those numbers really say about your health risks and potential issues.
- Building Your Own Health Blueprint: Discover the essential lab tests that give a comprehensive view of your heart, thyroid, hormones, metabolism, nutrient levels, and more.
- Asking the Right Questions: Get the confidence to engage with your doctor, advocate for additional testing, and make informed decisions about your well-being.
- Functional Medicine's Advantage: Understand how this approach goes beyond standard care to identify early warning signs and prevent chronic diseases before they take hold.
Tune in to the Rev Up Health podcast and unlock the secrets hidden within your lab results. Take control of your health journey and discover the power of knowledge!
Don't forget to subscribe so you never miss an episode packed with actionable wellness advice and insights from Dr. Mark and Tandi.
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(upbeat music) - Hello, health enthusiasts, and welcome to RevUp Health, your go-to podcast for all things wellness. I'm Dr. Mark Heckler. - And I'm Tandy Heckler. Together, we're here to fuel your health journey with the best of functional medicine and holistic well-being. - Each episode will dive deep into topics that matter to your health, bringing you the latest insights, research, and inspiring stories. - So whether you're on a quest for vibrant health or just looking for daily health tips, we've got you covered. - So let's embark on this journey together and transform the way you live. - Hello, and welcome to RevUp Health Fund. I'm Tandy. - I'm Dr. Mark. - And we are in a new place today. Welcome to our kitchen. - Yes, things are a little bit uncontrolled in our office today. So we end up some electrical in, and also as a result, internet issues. - Yeah, so we've come to the less uncontrolled part of our life, which is still a little uncontrolled because we had some apples the other day that we grew some fruit flies in and our dog is close, so we have secret weapon to keep him quiet. - Just in face, he decides to entertain us. - Yeah. - So welcome, we're happy to have you. And today we're gonna talk a little bit about what our comprehensive labs look like and hoping to kind of help you be able to take a look at your labs and know when to ask more questions. - Being foreign, get educated, you know, side, okay, well, there's a few things I would like to have, and maybe your doctor would order those for you. So hopefully we can get you a little more educated about some of the things that you may want to look into. - Yes. So first of all, we'll kind of go through and just talk about each of the different body systems and what labs we're looking at in those systems. - Yeah, I think maybe one thing I do want to kind of mention off the bat is maybe the cost of some of these might be an option. So, you know, your doctor will order your labs, you know, and yes, there are wellness labs that can be ordered, but also with some of the labs that they may have to order, they may have to have a diagnosis code for those labs in order for them to be paid for through the insurance. - Yes. - And that was an issue and you may want to mention that. - Yeah, so many years ago, when we decided to kind of start going down this path of looking more in depth at a functional level of our labs, we put together an extremely extensive lab order and didn't really think about that at all. And so we did our labs, we went in, we got the draw and then comes our insurance EOB and it was outrageous. Or I think we both got labs drawn and they were a little bit different, but like it was a lot of labs, $1,200 a piece that we had to pay out of pocket. So we have curated a list. - And solve that problem to an extent. Now we brought it down to close to about $300 for a complete metabolic profile. - Well, and there's also a difference between what we did back then and that now because we went through insurance back then. And the price that your insurance has contracted to pay with the lab is different than if you were to do a self pay through, you know, another provider or another service. There's function hell that offers a similar thing like this. So you can be a self pay patient, you get a discounted rate that is really kind of more the flat E of what it costs to do the labs as opposed to dealing with insurance and what their contracted rates are with the labs. - So yeah, like for instance, just for instance, if you can get a CDC or maybe a complete metabolic panel, see, you know, some of those types of labs done for the cost of a fancy latte. So it's really incredible to think about it in that respect. But yet if you get it done through your insurance, but they're going to file it because it's a code number and that code is going to be set by that insurance company on what they pay and then your insurance will dictate how that's paid. So it can be really costly for you. So you have to be very aware of that before you go to your doctor. No, okay, this may be something that's going to cost me a little bit more money. - Yes, and just to explain, we're getting way off into insurance, but I think it's important. And I think a lot of people don't understand these things. The other thing is your doctor isn't the lab. So if they say, yes, I'll draw all these labs, I'll order all these labs for you. They aren't the lab most of the time. And so they don't even know what the cost is for those labs because that's the lab's job that you get a bill from the lab for that. So it's not that they're doing anything, you know, on purpose to be deceiving, they just, they don't know. That's not their bulb. So it is very complex. So we have looked at, you know, all of the options that there are, and we've kind of narrowed it down to get the most bang for your buck. Not to say that once we get results back, there might not be a little bit more digging to do, but this is a pretty comprehensive list that will allow you to see where you're at. - Good initial screening. And then you kind of take that and kind of learn from that, well, okay, what do I need to work on? Where have I got problems? Why is it like that? Why are these levels that way? So we'll try to go through these, kind of explain, you know, what we do. - So first of all, for your heart, we're looking at... - Yeah, basically an Apolipar protein assessment. - Includes several different tests in that one test. - Lipar protein A and B, and so those are good indicators for HDL and LDL markers too. So they're kind of associated with that. So there's good and bad. And if someone's elevated, well, then we start to dig a little bit deeper. - And then triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, your ratios, C-reactive protein. This is one that you won't often get from primary care. - You need a flamatory marker. - Mm-hmm. And thyroid health. TSH antibodies, different types of antibodies. Couple of their types of antibodies for the thyroid to look at autoimmune diseases. And then of course the hormone levels themselves. - Cellar free. - 3G3, 3D4s. - And then for autoimmunity, we are gonna be adding this. This is one that we haven't done, but we are planning to add it. We will check on the price. - Right, yeah. - So an A&A and an RF, which is for rutoid factor and anti-nuclear antibodies, so. - It's always good to know what's going on there. And then CVCs, now everybody usually gets CVCs and basic chemistry panels. So those are something you may get from your doctor pretty rarely, but we also do those two, of course. - And then we've got female hormones and male hormones. Most of those are pretty much the same. There's pretty much just one that you add at the end. So we're looking at for men and women, testosterone, total and free, prolactin, estradiol, DHEA, FSH, LH, sex hormone binding, globulin. And then for women, we do progesterone and for men, we do a PSA. And stress and aging, we're looking at cortisol and DHEA. Let's see. And then for a metabolic panel, we're looking at uric acid. This is a newer one that's kind of a little bit, I mean, it's not a newer lab, but it's a more hot topic lab. Glucose, hemoglobin A1c, insulin. - Insulin fasting insulin. - Yes, fasting insulin is very important. And for nutrient, we're looking at vitamin D, magnesium, iron, baritone, holocysteine. That's the homocysteine is important because it can kind of be an indicator of how you're methylating. - Methylating problems are deficiency, vitamin deficiencies. Pacific folate can be 12. You see those elevated sometimes and homocysteine will be elevated. So then we're looking at the liver, total protein, albumin, total bilirubin, AST, ALT and B-L-N, creatinine, chloride, calcium, potassium and sodium. For the pancreas, amylase is an indicator, an early indicator for pancreatic cancer. - Yeah, so it's always good to know that. I mean, obviously, amylase will be also elevated. People, maybe they have gallstones that'll cause problems with the pancreas. - I feel like I want to reread that. So around 10 minutes, let's do a little thing. So amylase is one that we've recently added because it is an indicator for pancreatic cancer, potentially as well as-- - It's gonna be inflammatory problems other than the pancreas too, whether it's gallbladder or stones. - So electrolytes, we kind of already covered in the liver panel, but sodium, calcium, potassium, boron, carbon dioxide and magnesium. And then we're gonna do a CBC with differential, which includes your hemoglobin, your hematocrit, red blood cells, oxides, and it's a pretty common one. And you're gonna get that one most of the time with your general practitioner. - Yeah, so we're gonna be looking at, I don't know if vitamin levels were on there, not actually so-- - Nutrients, D, vitamin D, and vitamin B12. - So as you can tell, there's a lot of things to look at and it's not necessarily just specifically one thing or another, maybe these things may be normal or within range, but yet they may not be optimal. And so that's the important thing. To tell somebody that, yeah, good closest 100, so it's okay. Fast the insulin, well, you're not probably not gonna get a fast the insulin, but from your primary care. But those can be normal, so to speak, in range, but there can be indicators of type 2 diabetes and you can identify these things years in advance before the chronic disease even hits. And that's the whole point of emphasis in drawing these labs is trying to identify a chronic disease predecessor. So something that could potentially lead you down the path for getting chronic disease problems. And it could be anything, hard disease, type 2 diabetes, of course, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes. That's also something we can find out, but cancers, brain health, and there's a lot of things that lead to chronic disease. - Yeah, so what we are gonna do is put together a list of what is, you know, what we are looking at. You can then take that list and look at your own labs that you've had in the past. We'll give you some kind of normal levels and optimal levels so that you can kind of look and compare and see where you're at. That can give you an idea of, you know, if you need to go to your doctor and ask some more questions. - Yeah, and this panel is not all inclusive. So there are a lot of things that we can add on or change, but things that we can look for specifically if your history leads us down that path. So I wanna draw additional labs and even genomic testing or gut testing, those things also. - Yeah, food sensitivity testing also. - Yeah, and I think that's a whole another podcast, but you know, food sensitivity is not necessarily an allergic situation. It's, you know, it's not that, it's different. So sensitivities are such that they can give people a lot of problems. And gut health is a very important, vital part of it. - Yes, I feel like we say a lot of the same things over and over again about the truth is everything is connected. - All right. - That's why-- - So if you guys have any further questions, reach out to us at Revelation Health and Wellbeing. Keep following us along. Hopefully we can answer all the questions and if you have questions, shoot them out to us and maybe include that in a podcast. - Have a healthy day. (upbeat music) - Thank you for tuning in to another episode of RevUp Health. We hope you're leaving with some valuable insights to supercharge your health journey. - Don't forget to follow or subscribe to RevUp Health wherever you listen to your podcasts. And if you enjoyed today's episode, please leave us a rating and review. - Have a topic you want us to explore, reach out to us on social media channels. We love hearing from our wellness community. - Until next time, keep thriving. And remember, your journey to health is a journey to a better you. - Stay well and we'll connect with you again soon. This is Tandy. - And this is Dr. Mark signing off from RevUp Health. Take care. (upbeat music) - The information provided in this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. The content is designed to support, not replace the relationship that exists between a patient and their healthcare provider. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional before making any changes to your healthcare regimen, including diet, exercise or treatment plans. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of revelation, health, and well-being.
Ever wondered what those lab results really mean? Join Dr. Mark and Tandi Hechler, the functional medicine experts behind Revelation Health & Well-Being, as they demystify comprehensive lab testing and empower you to take charge of your health. In this eye-opening episode, you'll discover: The Hidden Clues in Your Labs: Learn how seemingly "normal" results might not be optimal and what those numbers really say about your health risks and potential issues.Building Your Own Health Blueprint...
