Understanding Lab Interpretations

A saved panel carries three things: a flag on every result, an interpretation

of the panel as a whole, and notes on how each marker has moved since your

earlier panels.

The flag on each result

Every result is judged against its own reference range — the one your report

gave, or the one you typed — and gets one of five flags:

FlagMeaning NormalInside the reference range, or no range to judge against Low / HighOutside the range Critically lowAt or below half of the range's lower bound Critically highAt or above one and a half times the range's upper bound

A critical flag also raises a safety alert — see

Lab Safety Alerts.

A result with no reference range at all is recorded as normal, because there is

nothing to compare it against. That is the reason the manual entry page asks

for the range.

The interpretation

The interpretation is generated when a panel is saved, and can be regenerated:

a panel without one shows Generate interpretation on the web, and the panel

screen on the phone has Regenerate Interpretation.

It opens with a plain summary — how many values are outside their ranges,

whether any are critical, which nutrients look low or elevated, and whether

anything calls for a conversation with your clinician. Under it:

Low nutrients — each with a severity of mild, moderate or severe and the markers it was read from

Elevated nutrients — the same, for values that are high

Health flags — patterns across several markers, such as kidney function, anaemia, thyroid function or blood sugar, marked "Action recommended" where the rule says to see a clinician

Recommendations — one line per finding, saying what to look at in your diet

The phone also shows the interpretation's confidence as a percentage. It starts

from the number of results in the panel: a panel with only a few values is

read with less confidence than a full one.

Markers ClapDiet has no rules for carry a "No guidance yet" badge and do not

take part in the interpretation.

Notes on each marker

On Lab Results, each result in a panel carries short notes worked out from

your other panels, where there are enough of them:

how far it moved since the previous panel, and in which direction

whether it sits near the lower or upper limit of its range

whether this is the first time it has left the normal range, or it has just returned

how often it has been in range across all your panels

whether it swings a lot between panels

A panel with a predecessor also gets a Since your last panel card: how many

comparable markers improved, worsened or stayed put, with the top win and the

top concern.

What the interpretation is not

ClapDiet provides educational information, not a diagnosis.

It does not diagnose conditions

It does not replace your doctor

It does not recommend treatment

A critical value needs a clinician, not a diet change

Talk to your healthcare provider about any result that concerns you.

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Related Articles:

Food Recommendations from Labs

Lab Safety Alerts

Lab History & Trends