Back in the day when people would have lab work and/or other testing, we would need to wait for the doctor’s to call us to deliver the results OR we had to go in for a follow-up at the office. Fast forward to current times: Almost every medical practice (especially the ones owned by hospital systems) have “Patient Portals” and you can log onto your secure records and view the results quite quickly. In the case of laboratory blood work, the “normal” ranges for those particular tests are on the right side of the pages and the patient’s results are on the left. Usually in different color or bold text are the abnormal results.
We will often get anxious when we see “abnormal” results but quite often these abnormalities hold no major clinical meaning. However, at times, there are abnormal readings that do indicate potentially significant disease. Although a number of tests may come back as “normal”, trends are very important in detecting potential major issues. For example, a “normal” prostate specific antigen test (“PSA”) is between 0-4.0. However, if a male has been showing levels always below 1 but then the next year it is 3.9, although that 3.9 is “normal”, the marked increase over the previous years could indicate an early prostate cancer.
Another example: If a person historically runs a close higher end range of hemoglobin/HCT (measures of red blood cells) and then the next reading is just above the bottom normal range, this “normal” may still be an early sign of occult blood loss. This, in turn, should prompt a medical workup to find out where the blood is being lost, and something as significant as a colon cancer could be the cause.
So, the bottom line: When you hop on your patient portal to see your lab results please do not always freak out when you see the “abnormals” but also do not take complete comfort with the “normals”. Arrange a follow-up with your healthcare team.
And if you are reading this, part of your care team is “Doctor Robert”. BUT, I don’t think the Beatles thought about me when they wrote this one for their “Revolver” album
