Read Your Own Labs.
The Lab-Reading Cheat Sheet I wish I had when I was younger. Every marker on a standard panel explained. Every marker your standard panel is missing. And how to read the trend that actually matters more than any single number.
Or watch the full video first →
~24 minutes. Everything you need to read your own panel, end to end. If you only watch one beat, watch the trends section in the middle.
What the video actually says.
Eight takeaways from the video.
Your annual physical pulls 30-45 markers. Three components: CBC + CMP + lipid panel. The standard was designed in the 1980s, before most of what we now care about could be measured. Standard panels are outdated and likely missing 8 important markers. Read more below.
Less than 1% of insured patients get ApoB tested annually, despite 2026 AHA/ACC guidelines recommending it for adults on lipid-lowering therapy. → [Read more]
Lp(a) is ~90% genetic, elevated in roughly 1 in 5 people globally, and your first-degree relatives have a 50/50 chance of being elevated too. It's a one-time test for most people.
Vitamin D "normal" starts at 30 ng/mL — the rickets-prevention level. Optimal is 50 to 80 for immune, cardiovascular, and cognitive outcomes.
"Normal" on a lab report = the statistical average for a U.S. population where 40% are obese and over 76% have at least one chronic disease. Average is not the same thing as healthy.
Doctors catch outliers. They don't catch trends. Finding the trend is your job. See the testosterone story: 415 at age 22, 422 at age 50 was baseline; then 525 after adding zinc and dialing in diet without needing TRT replacement.
The 2012 USPSTF recommendation against PSA screening was built on a study (PLCO) where 90% of the supposed unscreened arm got tested anyway. A 2017 reanalysis correcting for the contamination shows PSA testing prevents 27-32% of prostate cancer deaths. The guideline has not been updated since 2018.
If you're on finasteride or dutasteride for hair loss, your PSA needs to be doubled to be interpreted correctly. Most primary care doctors don't make this adjustment. A VA study found men on finasteride get diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer at more than double the rate of men who aren't.
The Eight Markers Your Standard Panel Is Probably Missing
These are the markers with the strongest evidence base for predicting the things that actually kill people, and the ones your standard annual physical almost certainly doesn't include.
ApoB
A better predictor of cardiovascular events than total LDL alone. Less than 1% of insured U.S. patients get it tested annually, despite 2026 AHA/ACC guidelines now formally recommending it. Standard lipid panel: not included.
Get the full crosswalk - every marker, what it means, and the optimal range.
The PDF every viewer asked us for. Plain-English explanation of every biomarker on a standard panel. The markers to ask your doctor to add to your next one. The optimal-vs-normal ranges to compare your own labs against. And a lab-prep checklist that catches the ten things that throw off your results.
Where to actually get the labs done
Lab work is easier and cheaper than it used to be. Order tests in the comfort of your own home and go when it's convenient for you.
Sage / Quest partnership
We make it easy to get your labs going. With our partnership with Quest, you can get a comprehensive look at your health quickly.
Once you have the labs, here's how to actually read them.
The Sage Healthspan app takes the work out of the trend. Upload your lab PDFs and the app extracts the values, interpreting them against a closed library of over 200 biomarkers our clinical team curated from functional-medicine sources and longevity research. The trends show up over time. The markers you're missing get flagged. And you get 10 questions to take to your next doctor's appointment.
Two things to know about how it works. First, the AI is pattern-matching against the closed library, it isn't sending your data to OpenAI or Google to interpret. Second, your data stays on your device.
Free for your first 100 biomarker line items, about a few years of standard panels, or one full comprehensive panel uploaded. After that, $9.99 one-time for unlimited everything, forever. Not a subscription.
*Android coming.
Going deeper
Check out our Sage Insights to get better prepared for getting your labs done and we do a deeper dive on the important markers your standard lab panels are likely missing.
The Problem with Modern Healthcare And Why We Started Sage
For decades, the medical system has been reactive instead of proactive. When system is set up to catch you when you fall, not to help you stay standing then you're playing catch up with your health. We help make being proactive practical.
Essential Lab Tests Everyone Should Get
Are your lab tests giving you the full picture of your health? Most medical checkups focus on detecting disease, but true health optimization requires a deeper understanding of your biomarkers. Be proactive with these essential lab tests.
How to Optimize for Accurate Blood Tests
Accurate blood test results are essential for proper health assessment and treatment planning. In this comprehensive guide, we'll cover everything you need to know about preparing for accurate blood work.
Blood Test Preparation Checklist
Convenient printable version of the prep guide. Stick it on your fridge before your next draw. Or have it handy on your phone.
The Missing Markers
The full structured page on the markers your doctor isn't ordering, markers that reveal the full picture of your cardiovascular, metabolic, and hormonal health. Sage helps you go beyond standard panels with advanced blood test results analysis and intelligent lab results interpretation powered by AI to fill in the gaps.
Every study cited in the video.
Receipts. Every claim is sourced.
Kratzer TB et al. (2025). Prostate cancer statistics, 2025. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.
Shoag JE, Mittal S, Hu JC (2016). *Reevaluating PSA Testing Rates in the PLCO Trial.* New England Journal of Medicine.
Tsodikov A et al. (2017). *Reconciling the Effects of Screening on Prostate Cancer Mortality in the ERSPC and PLCO Trials.* Annals of Internal Medicine.
Nordström T et al. (2021). *Prostate cancer screening using a combination of risk-prediction, MRI, and targeted prostate biopsies (STHLM3-MRI).* Lancet Oncology.
PRIME trial collaborators (2025). *Biparametric vs Multiparametric MRI for Prostate Cancer Diagnosis: The PRIME Diagnostic Clinical Trial.* JAMA.
Sarkar RR et al. (2020). *5-alpha reductase inhibitors and prostate cancer mortality among men with regular access to screening and health care.* Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Reyes-Soffer G et al. (2024). *Lipoprotein(a) as a Causal Risk Factor for Cardiovascular Disease.* PMC11836235.
CDC NCHS (2024). *Obesity and Severe Obesity Prevalence in Adults: United States, August 2021–August 2023.* NCHS Data Brief No. 508.
CDC (2025). *Trends in Multiple Chronic Conditions Among US Adults, By Life Stage, BRFSS 2013–2023.* Preventing Chronic Disease.
Wyne KL et al. (2023). *Hypothyroidism Prevalence in the United States: A Retrospective Study Combining NHANES and Claims Data, 2009–2019.* Journal of the Endocrine Society.
Every claim in the video and the protocol traces to one of these papers. Pull the abstract, read the methods, decide for yourself. Where the evidence is thin or preclinical, apigenin, oral GABA crossing the blood-brain barrier, magnesium L-threonate for sleep, we say so rather than dressing it up.
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