AARP The Magazine - February/March 2012

R HEALTH Glucose (fasting) Sugar in the blood Sodium An electrolyte, which keeps your body in balance Potassium An electrolyte and mineral Chloride An electrolyte Carbon dioxide BUN: blood urea nitrogen Creatinine BUN/creatinine ratio Calcium A mineral stored in the hard part of bones Protein Albumin Comprehensive Metabolic Panel What it does: Measures kidney and liver function, electrolyte levels Enzyme found mostly in the liver Enzyme found in liver, muscle, and other tissues SUBSTANCE WHAT IT IS Hematocrit The percentage of red blood cells in the blood Mean corpuscular volume (MCV) Average size of red blood cells Mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) The amount of hemoglobin in red blood cells Platelet count Measures number of platelets—colorless blood cells integral to clotting WHAT IT IS

Health Report

Wonder what all those
numbers mean? So did we
B Y HOLLY ST. LIFER
ILLUSTRATION BY JONATHAN CARLSON
Your Lab
Results
Decoded
Gaseous waste product from metabolism
A waste product formed in liver and carried to
kidneys, filtered out of blood, excreted through urine
A chemical waste produced by muscle metabolism

H

HOW’S YOUR BILIRUBIN LEVEL?
And your BUN/creatinine ratio?
Unless you enjoy reading Dictionary
of Medical Terms, your routine lab
results can seem downright cryptic.
To help you decipher them, we
asked Mark S. Lachs, M.D., author
of Treat Me, Not My Age, and Marie
A. Bernard, M.D., deputy director of
the National Institute on Aging, to
explain what all those numbers
really mean.
Just be aware: Abnormal test re-
sults are fairly common, especially
among older adults. “Fifty-plus folks
tend to take more medications,” says
Lachs, “and that can throw off test
results. For example, diuretics can
alter sodium and potassium levels;

Bilirubin
Alkaline phosphatase
(ALP)
Alanine amino-
transferase (ALT)
Aspartate amino-
transferase (AST)
Chains of amino acids essential for
the gro wth and repair of cells
Protein that keeps fluid from leaking
out of blood vessels and that nourishes tissues
and transports nutrients through the body
A pigment in the bile, a digestive
fluid produced by the liver
Enzyme found in the liver and bones
White blood cell
count ( WBC)

fullscreen

AARP Newstand

article text for page

< previous story | next story >

add comment | read comments

Share this page with a friend
Save to “My Stuff”
Subscribe to this magazine
Search
Help