Ranges and targets

Five kinds of range

Lab reference range

A lab tests a reference population and publishes the range that holds about the middle 95% of results, often split by age and sex. The range describes that population, so a healthy person can fall outside it and an unhealthy one inside it. We draw lab reference ranges as tinted dots, darker where more labs agree.

Diagnostic cut-off

A guideline sets one value that defines a diagnosis, such as HbA1c of 6.5% for diabetes. We mark cut-offs as ticks on a strip under the rows, and the readout names every cut-off a value is past.

Guideline target

A medical society sets a treatment goal for a named group, such as the ESC/EAS ApoB ceilings that tighten as cardiovascular risk rises. We show the society, the year and the group.

Study-based range

An outcome study reports where risk or symptoms changed. Most support one side only: iron eased fatigue in women with ferritin below 50, and one cohort saw higher mortality from 200. We draw the study-based row from the highest lower bound to the lowest upper bound, each end citing its own study.

Practitioner target

A named clinician publishes a target, such as Peter Attia's ApoB ceiling of 60 mg/dL. The row carries the person's name; we show the page and the date, say whether the target cites evidence, quote the person's own wording, and draw it as outlined dots.

Compare the ranges for three biomarkers

Move across the rows to check a value against every range, switch between US and SI units, and open each source from the legend.

Where your own number fits

We show what each source publishes and for whom; we do not tell you what your own result means. Bring these ranges to a licensed clinician, who knows your history and your lab's method, or track your results in Aumnivida. See every source we use.