Optimal Lab Values

Last year when I started having thyroid problems, I was reading a lot about thyroid and learned what optimal lab values should be. I went to a doctor that checked my Vitamin D levels. When I called for my test results, I was told that my level came back at 32. Because I did not have the copies of my labs yet, I Googled it to find out that I should be at least 50. The low end of the lab range was 25 so my result came back normal per that lab. At the time, my doctor had no clue what the word “optimal” meant. That was the same doctor that told me that my thyroid was fine when my Free T4 was so low that it was not even registering a number anymore.

I recently had a doctor’s appointment a week after getting labs done. She had checked my B-12 levels and told me that my results were at the bottom of the range. I am still waiting on the copies of the labs to see exactly what the numbers were but thought I would Google B-12 levels to find out where they should be and found out that they should be near the top of the lab range.

There doesn’t seem to be one big list for optimal lab values. I can find lists that talk about CBC. I can Google Vitamin D to find out where it should be. I can Google individual ones to try and find them, but there doesn’t seem to be a comprehensive list with what optimal ranges should be. I thought that I would put together a list of the ones that I have found so far.

Lab – Optimal Value

A/G Ratio – 1.7 – 2.2

A1c – Less than 6.5 per AACE guidelines

Albumin – 4.5 – 5.0

Alkaline Phosphatase – 50 – 75

ALT – 24

Anion Gap – 10 – 12

AST – 21

B-12 – Upper part of the lab range

Basophils – 1

Bilrubin, Total – .65

BUN – 12 – 20