Your Blood Never Lies: How to Read a Blood Test for a Longer, Healthier Life

Very useful book

If you are an MD or have a PhD and your specialty is Pathology, perhaps (and I mean only perhaps) you will not find any new major revelation here. On the other end of the scale, if you have no idea or care to know the difference between your Potassium level and Magnesium level or you live in a dreamland by thinking that your General Practitioner walks on water, i.e. will take the time to analyze your yearly blood test for all the necessary parameters that should be included in your yearly blood test - or you just plain could not care less about your health until your doctor tells you that you have six months to live - then I guess this book is not for you. On the other hand if you are prepared to take SOME ACTION to assure a preventive method and lifestyle to optimize your health (and still have the time to have a life) then this book is FANTASTIC. In my own view, the two negative reviews are totally out of line. The author never claims any major discovery. I've studied Biochemistry and Human Physiology and have done a fair amount of research on Blood Tests as well as other informative tests like Microbiomes (e.g. H. Pylori), Fitness Tests (like Body Fat Percentage), etc., yet I found this book to be an amazing reference collection of relevant ranges of blood tests. It is already over 300 pages, so obviously it is outside of the scope to analyze every sub-range within the rightly or wrongly generally accepted "healthy ranges". If he did that, the book would be well over a thousand pages, which most people would never get around to reading. Read the title! It is not meant to be a full text on Human Physiology and Anatomy; it is a fantastic aid in helping you interpret your blood test plus gives you an idea of some of the very important tests that your good Doctor, for a variety of inadequate reasons, will not bother with. Most people, if not everyone, would "like to be healthy". Unfortunately not everyone has made a commitment to be and prefer to have their head in the sand. If you have made a commitment to your health, but you are not a professional in Pathology, you need this book - it is invaluable.

I heard Dr. LaValle discuss the things each of us have experienced at one time or another, when our primary care physician has reviewed our lab results and told us that our labs are "fine" or "normal". Normal, compared to what? I find that the questions needed during these reviews have left a lot to be desired on my part, since I don't know what to specifically ask. For example, what is the lowest level on a "scale" that I should concern myself about before I take a different approach to bring my level up? What indicates the lower end of the scale's results before something needs to be done? To tell a person that his or her results are "normal" is ludicrous, because some readings are at the lower end of a scale, and to me, should be the time to act, before it turns to insufficiency or deficiency.I think that doctors come too close to a tipping point before we are informed that something needs to be done to bring our levels up to the midpoint vs. seeing a reading at the lower end of the scale, and tell us patients that our readings are normal! That's an irresponsible statement: we are headed towards deficiency or insufficiency, but we could get moving to correct the level before it gets lower! Example: our Vitamin D level. Dr. LaValle provides an enormous amount of information that's to our advantage to use so that we can ask the questions that need to be asked when lab results are "discussed" (glossed over), and, he provides solutions to many of our medical issues that may further not get discussed during those lab result review discussions. This is a "must have/must read" book. Many solutions to ailments as well as how to get health issues better treated, if you should choose to do so, with your medical professional's help, are available, if that professional doesn't get offended by your questions or concerns (is that an oxymoronic statement, your medical professional - the one who doesn't treat you unless it involves prescription meds?).

Years & years of doctor visits & obligatory blood tests & finally I understand how to use the test results.Everyone should read this book--especially if you are taking any medicines--even OTC stuff.The best advice is to get a copy of every blood test from your doctor (it always takes me multiple calls but I don't give up easily).Then start tracking the results from year to year and look for changes--when a test result starts going higher or lower, that's a sign of a change. Don't expect a busy doctor to notice slight changes -- they typically look at the out-of-range column & not much more.For instance, do you wait to buy gasoline until your tank is empty? Probably not--so you glance at the gauge occasionally & prevent the problem.Unfortunately, conventional medicine doesn't focus on preventing problems--it focuses on relieving symptoms (pain, etc) typically with drugs.This book explains the tests and covers a lot of easy to understand help about what could be causing changes in blood chemistry.I've discovered that a body doesn't heal/recover/stay well when it's missing a key nutrient. And having a doctor tell you "your blood test came back fine" doesn't work anymore when you know you're not.I wish this book was written 15 years ago because that's when I started my own personal search for why I didn't feel like myself. I honestly feel better than I did 30 years ago--no pain today & no scripts either.We know more about what our cars need--gasoline, oil, transmission fluids, etc--than we know about what our body needs to make our heart beat, our vision strong, our brain work, etc. The information is out there--and this book should give people some clues to 'partner' with their doctors for better health.

Great content. Really interesting read if you are a layman but who is interested in the science behind the bloodwork.

Its helpful to get a more full understanding of what blood work means and how the numbers are developed through oral intake. Its helpful to add context to blood work scores.

Loads of interesting information about how to read blood tests as a 'layman' i was recommended this by a fellow Trichology student, i find it extremely helpful to refer to for guidelines on healthy ranges of vitamins for clients.

Fantastic read. Take ownership of ones own health

It’s what I was expecting... good delivery