[PSA] lipids are not what most of this community thinks it is
The one-line version is the title: lipids are not what most of this community thinks it is. The rest is why. Brought the whole set to my clinician rather than one flagged value. Completely different conversation. How to make a panel worth comparing, which is most of the value people leave on the table. Standardise…
Different laboratories use different assay platforms with different calibration. Comparing across labs adds a systematic offset that is invisible on the report.
How many weeks between the two measurements?
Substantial weight loss independently moves lipids, liver enzymes and several other markers. Attributing a change to a compound while losing weight is confounded by design.
Do you have a baseline from before you started?
Cosigning on baseline. The panel I regret most is the one I did not take before starting.
weight loss itself moves several of these independently
Disagree with reading anything into that. One value, one morning, and you changed two other things in the same window.
Agreed on assay changes. A lab switching platforms between your draws is invisible unless you ask.
one measurement is a point, two is a line, three is a trend
bring the numbers to someone qualified to read them
Is that the same assay, or did the lab change platforms?
Have you taken this to whoever ordered it?
Repeat testing before acting is standard practice for a reason: regression to the mean does a lot of work on single outlying values.