admin – Page 662 – Qaasid News

Kirin and Tokyo Uni discover cellular aging reduces nutrient absorption using biomimetic tech

Kirin Holdings and the University of Tokyo, Japan, have discovered that nutrient absorption decreases in aging intestinal epithelial cells. They say this finding is a global first, which may potentially lead to functional ingredient innovations…

Continue Reading

January 20, 2026

Essential Baseline Lab Tests for Preventive Health Assessment

Introduction
Establishing individualized reference values
Core laboratory panels
Useful add-on panels based on risk
Emerging and optional advanced biomarkers
References
Further reading

Why smarter baseline lab testing, grounded in biological variation and clinical evidence, matters more than broad annual screening panels.

Image Credit: Peekadook / Shutterstock.com

Introduction

Routine annual examinations often fail to improve patient outcomes and may even lead to overdiagnosis. Consequently, regulatory bodies such as the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) now prioritize targeted, risk-based screening rather than indiscriminate testing.¹

This article discusses recent evidence from both peer-reviewed research and public health agency recommendations to distinguish between medically necessary screening and actionable health monitoring.

Establishing individualized reference values

A critical limitation of conventional laboratory reporting is the reliance on population-based reference intervals that are typically based on data from the central 95% of a healthy population. However, growing evidence indicates that the range of values for a specific analyte within-subject biological variation (CV_I) is narrower.²

For example, a systematic review and meta-analysis of biological variation previously established that the CV_I for serum creatinine is approximately 5%. Based on this tight homeostatic control, the reference change value (RCV) for estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is conservatively estimated at approximately ±12.5%.²

Consequently, a rise in creatinine from 0.8 mg/dL to 1.0 mg/dL represents a statistically significant decline in renal function, even if both values remain within the normal population range of 0.6–1.2 mg/dL.²

Family history, chronic conditions, and new lifestyle interventions

Baseline testing is strongly recommended for individuals with genetic predispositions to chronic diseases, particularly cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and diabetes, where early deviations from individual baselines may inform preventive care strategies.¹

Public health agencies further support baseline testing and follow-up in individuals with chronic conditions or those experiencing major lifestyle transitions, such as weight loss or intensive physical training, which can meaningfully alter metabolic parameters.^1,5

Core laboratory panels

Core laboratory panels refer to standardized groupings of diagnostic tests that constitute the foundation of metabolic baseline health.

Complete blood count (CBC)

The CBC metric is used to quantify an individual’s oxygen-carrying capacity, immune status, and hemostatic potential. The CBC includes indices such as mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and red cell distribution width (RDW), which provide mechanistic insights into an individual’s hematopoietic health.¹

CBC also measures the white blood cell (WBC) differential that encompasses immune cells like neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, eosinophils, and basophils. Persistent deviations in specific subtypes may indicate allergic disease, chronic infection, or inflammatory conditions.⁴

Recent evidence-based clinical guidelines emphasize that ferritin levels should be assessed in conjunction with hemoglobin, as iron deficiency can present with nonspecific symptoms like fatigue before anemia develops.⁴

Full blood count – what it tells your doctor about your health