How to read your labs and manage your longevity
Every year we go in for a routine check-up and walk away with sheets of numbers that can look like a puzzle. Let's unpack what they mean, how to read your biological age and risk indices from them — and what to do next.
5 steps to managing your health
Once your results are in hand, don't file them away and forget them. Here's a clear order for making sense of the numbers yourself — from your own profile to the conclusions.
Which tests matter most for you depends on your age, sex, and family medical history — that's where to begin. Once your results are in hand, turn them into your biological age with PhenoAge.
Anywhere from 10 to 50 key lab markers — a screening, standard, or extended panel.
Every result on the report sheet lists a reference range beside it — compare your numbers with the limits of normal.
From a set of markers you can calculate risk indices, biological age, metabolic age, and more than eight other key measures of health.
What to adjust in your diet and lifestyle, which further tests to run, and when to repeat your bloodwork.
Health profiles
It helps to group markers by area of health — that way you read your labs as a whole, rather than one number at a time.
- CVD risk — the lipid panel
- D-dimer — clotting
- NT-proBNP
- hs Troponin
- NAFLD — fatty liver disease
- Steatosis
- FLI and HSI indices
- eGFR — filtration rate
- Urea / creatinine
- IDA — iron-deficiency anemia
- Ferritin
- Vitamin B12 + folate
- C-reactive protein
- hs C-reactive protein
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Celiac disease
Kinds of biological age
Your chronological age is just the number on your ID. What truly reveals the state of your health are your biological ages.
An integrated composite of 9 blood markers — the most measurable indicator of your body's true age.
The age of your metabolism, from body composition and basal metabolic rate.
Cardiorespiratory fitness measured by VO₂ max.
Your 10-year risk score for developing cardiovascular disease.
Telomere length — a marker of cellular aging.
The lab alphabet
The key abbreviations you'll see on your results — and what each one stands for.
What your labs reveal together
A set of markers builds a complete picture — not isolated numbers, but the connections between them.
Hidden deficiencies and dysfunction — caught before any symptoms appear.
Forecasting 5–10 years ahead from your profile of markers.
Pre-disease states, while the process can still be reversed.
Assessing your predisposition to disease and complications from your profile.
Your pace of aging from telomeres and epigenetic and functional markers.
Men and women age differently — worth keeping in mind when reading your labs.
