Why “Normal” is not Optimal

Most patients who feel “unwell” will come out “normal” on a blood test. Clinical experience suggests that these people are by no means “normal” and are a far cry from being functionally optimal. They may not yet have progressed to a known disease state but they are what we call dys-functional, i.e. their physiological systems are no longer functioning properly and they are starting to feel un-well.  Indeed, they might be feeling fatigued, irritable, have chronic pain, and gut issues, yet their doctor is saying that everything is fine and it just must mean the individual needs an anti-depressant.  

No, it might not all be in your head.  And the issue is not that the blood test is a poor diagnostic tool, far from it. The issue is that the ranges used on a traditional lab test are based on statistics, and not on whether a certain value represents good health or optimal physiological function. The problem is that “normal” reference ranges usually represent “average” populations rather that the optimal level required to maintain good health. Most “normal” ranges are too broad to adequately detect health problems before they become pathology and are not useful for detecting the emergence of dysfunction.