ucimigrate
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Hi Everyone,
I never quite understood how reference ranges were developed and how they worked.
1. Quackwatch.org and other sites explain reference ranges well:
- Formed on millions of subjects
- Using billions of data points
- Are extra generous to account for infants, children, teenagers, adults, elderly people, even pregnant people.
So, almost all of the time, if the reference ranges say "normal" then someone is truly healthy. No further pharmaceutical requirement is mandatory.
Still, doctors have discretion to say "you are within the reference ranges, but you still complain of low libido, ED, depression after you turned 50, so we can try you on TRT." Same thing goes with any medication...thyroid, growth hormone, iron supplementation for anemia, vitamin D for vitamin D deficiency.
2. Nevertheless, many "functional medicine" pseudoscience chiropractors, etc. want a way to call themselves doctors, and sometimes even use real tests inappropriately:
pathologytestsexplained.org.au
3. In my case, I have always been in the reference ranges, just low on them:
"T4 5.5 or 6.0, on the 5-12 reference range; TSH normal"
"Testosterone, upon rising and fasted, around 330, on a 300-1200 range; LH normal"
"GH within range, although low"
4. Still, in retrospect, I am so mad an irresponsible laypeople, or wannabe doctors (like chiropractors or alternative medicine doctors):
"You feel tired in the morning, and often drink coffee to wake up, there must be something wrong with you. I am up at the crack of dawn."
"If I had as strict diet and exercised as much as you, I'd be a beast."
"Your testosterone levels and GH are in the reference range, and so are mine. But, I am 20 years older than you, so it necessarily means you are screwed. There must be something seriously wrong with you."
5. Can anyone advise in my case?
I always wondered if my problem gaining strength or muscle mass was because of reference ranges in the normal range, but low normal.
I wondered if my slower than average metabolism was because of the normal-ranged T4 and TSH, but still in the lower end.
A few real doctors have tried to explain. It just means my body can get by with less. Having a normal testosterone level of 900 (compared to my 330), may not simply mean more muscle mass, but also post more liability for the heart, etc.
I never quite understood how reference ranges were developed and how they worked.
1. Quackwatch.org and other sites explain reference ranges well:
- Formed on millions of subjects
- Using billions of data points
- Are extra generous to account for infants, children, teenagers, adults, elderly people, even pregnant people.
So, almost all of the time, if the reference ranges say "normal" then someone is truly healthy. No further pharmaceutical requirement is mandatory.
Still, doctors have discretion to say "you are within the reference ranges, but you still complain of low libido, ED, depression after you turned 50, so we can try you on TRT." Same thing goes with any medication...thyroid, growth hormone, iron supplementation for anemia, vitamin D for vitamin D deficiency.
2. Nevertheless, many "functional medicine" pseudoscience chiropractors, etc. want a way to call themselves doctors, and sometimes even use real tests inappropriately:
Misleading or inappropriate tests
3. In my case, I have always been in the reference ranges, just low on them:
"T4 5.5 or 6.0, on the 5-12 reference range; TSH normal"
"Testosterone, upon rising and fasted, around 330, on a 300-1200 range; LH normal"
"GH within range, although low"
4. Still, in retrospect, I am so mad an irresponsible laypeople, or wannabe doctors (like chiropractors or alternative medicine doctors):
"You feel tired in the morning, and often drink coffee to wake up, there must be something wrong with you. I am up at the crack of dawn."
"If I had as strict diet and exercised as much as you, I'd be a beast."
"Your testosterone levels and GH are in the reference range, and so are mine. But, I am 20 years older than you, so it necessarily means you are screwed. There must be something seriously wrong with you."
5. Can anyone advise in my case?
I always wondered if my problem gaining strength or muscle mass was because of reference ranges in the normal range, but low normal.
I wondered if my slower than average metabolism was because of the normal-ranged T4 and TSH, but still in the lower end.
A few real doctors have tried to explain. It just means my body can get by with less. Having a normal testosterone level of 900 (compared to my 330), may not simply mean more muscle mass, but also post more liability for the heart, etc.
