Nature's Sunshine Products NSP

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Laboratory Panel Results

I'm posting this in hopes that it will help many of you, as it has me. Not always do we understand our lab results or those of our clients. This gives us a guide to go by in determining if we are making progress in our suggested nutrient/herbal supplementation.

Explanation of Laboratory Panel
If any of the factors listed below are elevated and are being controlled by diet, then the chemistry panel should be repeated on a regular basis every two to three months, until safer levels have been achieved. For a healthy person in whom the levels are already in
the near optimum range, this test should be repeated every six to 12 months. Monitoring your health in this way is without question your best health insurance.
What is given is the average range of each measurement, plus an optimal range. In some cases, average and optimal are the same, but in others they are significantly different.
The explanation of the laboratory findings below are those done on a "fasting" sample, in which the client has had nothing to eat or drink, except water, for 10 hours. Laboratory panels done on non-fasting individuals are valuable, but some measurements, particularly the glucose and triglyceride measurements, can be significantly altered by food.

1. Glucose: average range 70 mg-105 mg; optimum range 70 mg-100 mg . The blood glucose level is the primary test for diabetes mellitus. Fasting levels above 105 represent varying levels of the diabetic condition.

2. Urea nitrogen: average range 7 to 22; optimum range 7 to 15 Urea nitrogen, also called the "BUN," is a protein breakdown product circulating in the blood which is removed by the kidney. The kidney continually filters urea from the blood, excreting it in the urine. Most Americans carry high levels of protein breakdown products in their blood, primarily because of their high protein, particularly animal protein, diet. Healthier low-protein nutrition characteristically lowers the urea nitrogen circulating in the blood.

3. Creatinine: average range .7 mg to 1.5 mg; optimum range .7 mg to 1.5 mg . Creatinine is also a protein breakdown product, but unlike the BUN, it is not significantly altered by high protein intakes. However, a high protein intake will accelerate kidney damage, and when this is done the creatinine level will elevate.

4. Creatinine/BUNratio: average range 6 to 27; optimum range 6 to 20.The BUN/creatinine ration is another index of kidney function. If the BUN or urea falls, the ratio of BUN/creatinine will reduce as well. Therefore, a lower BUN/creatinine ratio represents healthier kidney function at a reduced level of toxic protein products in the blood.

5. Uric Acid: average range 2.6 to 7.2; optimum range 2.6 to 6.0 In large amounts it collects in the joints causing inflammation and "gouty" arthritis. Elevated uric acid levels are often genetic, but a high-protein diet plays a big role as well.

Recently, elevated uric acid has been found to be a strong indicator of heart disease. Like the blood cholesterol level, it should be significantly reduced, preferably below 6.0

6. Calcium: average range 8.4 to 10.4; optimum range 8.4 to 10 The blood level of calcium is maintained rigidly between these levels by hormones in the body. Diet, or even the presence of calcium in the diet, has little to do with the blood levels. However, diet has a lot to do with "calcium balance" -- how much calcium you take in and how much calcium is lost from the body.

A low-protein diet is important for the maintenance of positive calcium balance, indicating the deposition of calcium, thus strengthening the bones. A high-protein diet causes a negative calcium balance, which is the cause of osteoporosis.

7. Phosphorus: average range 2.5 to 4.5; optimum range 2.5 to 4.5
Phosphorus is in dynamic equilibrium with calcium and will go in the opposite direction with blood level changes. If the blood calcium level goes up, the phosphorus level goes down, and vice versa. Like calcium, diet doesn't affect the blood level of phosphorus specifically. However, a high animal protein diet, which is high in phosphorus, will throw the body into "negative calcium balance," causing osteoporosis.

Enzymes in the blood: Alkaline Phosphatase, Gamma GPT, LDH, ALTH (SGPT), AST (SGOT)

The reference range given on the laboratory profile and the optimal range of these enzymes is roughly the same. These enzymes are produced by all the cells in your body, but the liver and muscle are the largest producers. If these is liver or muscle damage - such as hepatitis, gall bladder disease, or heart attack -- levels of these enzymes are elevated. Occasionally, vigorous exercise will elevate these enzymes.

Normally, modest elevations of any of these enzymes are not cause for concern, unless they remain elevated on a repeated test.

8. Albumin: average range 3.5 to 5.0; optimum range the same
Albumin is a measure of protein in the blood, and goes down when there is a debilitating disease or severe malnutrition.

9. Globulin: average range 1.4 to 3.9; optimum range 1.4 to 3.9
Globulin is another protein intimately associated with the immune system. Certain diseases cause either elevation or decrease in the globulin blood levels.

10. A/G RATIO: average .9 to 3.6; optimum range .9 to 3.6
The A/G ration, or ration between albumin and globulin, is often used to differentiate certain disease states which result in either decreased albumin or an increase in globulin.

11. Cholesterol: average range 150 to 300 mg; optimum range below 200, or as low as possible for the specific individual.

The National Institute of Health, and the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute recommend treating anyone with cholesterol above 200, as these cholesterol ranges are shown to represent a risk of having a heart attack. Blood cholesterol is the most significant factor that can be measured for implicating heart risk.

12. TRIGLYCERIDES: average range 35 to 160; optimum range 35 to 140
Triglycerides are neutral fat. Significant elevations of Triglycerides reduce the fluidity and oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood. Diet, obesity, and lack of exercise intimately affect the triglyceride level.

13. ELECTROLYTES: average range and optimum should be the same
Electrolytes are the positive and negative charged particles that are in balance in the blood. These include sodium, potassium, chloride, carbon dioxide (sometimes called bicarbonate), and magnesium. The electrolyte levels in the blood are not specifically related to diet. However, diets that are high in sodium and low in potassium and magnesium will produce high blood pressure and are thought also to aggravate obesity and diabetes.

Magnesium is particularly important in that low magnesium levels in the cells of the body, or in the blood, represent a danger for both diabetic and heart patients. Men and women taking diuretics are at risk of depleting both magnesium and potassium levels in the cells as well as lowering the blood levels.

Usually potassium supplements are given along with the diuretic therapy, but magnesium supplements -- to guard against magnesium deficiency, which may be even more important than potassium deficiency -- are rarely given. Even when both magnesium and potassium supplements are given along with diuretic therapy, their levels in the body can still be depleted.

14. Lipid Profile II: HDL cholesterol range 29 to 72; optimum range 45 to 85 LDL cholesterol range 62 to 145; optimum range 60 to 130

VLDL cholesterol range 0 to 40; optimum range 0 to 30

HDL, LDL, and VLDL are the carriers of cholesterol in the blood stream. If you add up HDL, LDL, and VLDL cholesterol, you get the figure for the total cholesterol in your blood.

HDL cholesterol is the good cholesterol. HDL transports cholesterol from the cells back to the liver so it can be excreted. LDL cholesterol is the bad cholesterol. This is the cholesterol that deposits in the arteries. VLDL cholesterol is the cholesterol that is carried in the triglyceride fraction of the blood.

The optimum direction to pursue is to elevate HDL, and lower LDL and VLDL cholesterol.

15. Cholesterol/hdl Ratio
Since the total cholesterol level is so often dangerous and the HDL cholesterol level is protective, the ratio of the two represents an overall risk for the two measurements. The optimum cholesterol/HDL ratio would be below 3.4. This represents a risk one-half the average risk of the population.
-Lisa Canon