Personal Physiology Results

Earlier this week, I obtained some personal physiology results: basic blood tests and a DEXA body composition scan.

I have these results by stroke of fortune and opportunity: not because I have an excess of money and an obsession to move higher in the ectomorphic pantheon of unpaid ultramarathon running; rather I was paid for these results as part of an ongoing research study (more on that when I can discuss more about it).

These test were at the University of Colorado Hospital in Denver, where I am fortunate to be employed in a research fellowship. Lately I have had more time to wander the hallways of the hospital, both as part of my own budding research as well as this study, and I am even more impressed with the highly-talented and motivated staff who are both enthusiastic and willing to discuss research and share data with me. Along those lines, I am making these raw data public for anyone else that might be interested, as I am a physiologic data geek.

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Personal observations:
- My blood pressure (not shown) is, again, prehypertensive (13x/9x). I will again monitor this, as it has been slightly high in the past. Exercise is known to reduce blood pressure, but a physician yesterday told me that this effect lasts only up to 18 hours, which could have affected my results. This may well also be an inherited salt-sensitivy. I cook most of my own food and use salt sparingly, having to intercept fresh food before liberal salt is dumped on by my wife and others, but I can be more diligent about that. I love bananas already, but can investigate how to add more potassium to my diet.
And as much as it pains me to say it -- I may have to rethink cheese.
- BMI of 19.8
- Body comp through DEXA shows 9.8% body fat, about 1% higher than the last time I had it measured with calipers (for free at work, and I was probably the same BMI). DEXA is more accurate. Interesting assymetries which I'm curious to learn more about.
- Hemoglobin is on the low end. This can happen during intense training. I try to be mindful of my Iron intake since I don't eat red meat, but I can easily add more spinach and kale.
- I can gain or lose weight and still be perfectly healthy, but I'm comfortable at this weight (have been for 3-4 years) and feel healthy (get sick 0-1 times per year, never get headaches or have to take any sort of drugs). Awkwardly, a few acquaintances make weird comments occasionally about (me) being skinny, although I think very little about my own weight, much less theirs.
- Very happy with my cholesterol: HDL is nearly equal to my LDL, which seems to be an off-the-charts ratio. In 9th grade, I was diagnosed with high cholesterol!

Personal Physiology: DEXA Body Composition Scan

Personal Physiology: Metabolic, CBC, and Lipid Test

Component	Measurement	Normal Range	Unit
WHITE BLOOD CELL COUNT	4.4	4.0 - 11.1	10
RED BLOOD CELL COUNT	4.74	4.76 - 6.09	10
Hemoglobin	14.2	14.3 - 18.1	g/dL
HEMATOCRIT	42.6	39.2 - 50.2	%
MEAN CORPUSCULAR VOLUME	89.9	80.0 - 100.0	fL
MEAN CORPUSCULAR HGB	30	27.5 - 35.1	pg
MEAN CORPUSCULAR HGB CONCENTRN	33.3	32.0 - 36.0	g/dL
PLATELET COUNT	195	150 - 400	10
MEAN PLATELET VOLUME	11.5	9.6 - 12.8	fL
RED CELL DISTRIBUTION WIDTH SD	44.5	37.1 - 48.8	fL
RED CELL DISTRIBUTION WIDTH CV	13.5	11.7 - 14.2	%
NRBC PERCENT	0	0.0 - 0.0	%
NRBC ABSOLUTE	0	0.00 - 0.00	10
CHOLESTEROL	145	0 - 200	mg/dL
HIGH DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN CHOL	64	40 - 60	mg/dL
Non HDL Cholesterol	81	0 - 160	mg/dL
TRIGLYCERIDES	71	0 - 150	mg/dL
LOW DENSITY LIPOPROTEIN CHOL	67	0 - 130	mg/dL
SODIUM,SERUM/PLASMA	140	133 - 145	mmol/L
POTASSIUM, SERUM/PLASMA	4.3	3.3 - 5.0	mmol/L
CHLORIDE, SERUM/PLASMA	106	101 - 111	mmol/L
BLOOD UREA NITROGEN	15	40717	mg/dL
CREATININE, SERUM/PLASMA	0.9	0.40 - 1.20	mg/dL
GLUCOSE, RANDOM, SERUM/PLASMA	91	70 - 199	mg/dL
CALCIUM, SERUM/PLASMA	8.9	8.5 - 10.3	mg/dL
ASPARTATE AMINOTRANSFERASE	30	0 - 47	U/L
ALK PHOS, SERUM/PLASMA	55	39 - 117	U/L
PROTEIN TOTAL, SERUM/PLASMA	6.2	6.4 - 8.3	g/dL
BILIRUBIN TOTAL	0.6	0.0 - 1.3	mg/dL
CARBON DIOXIDE	26	22 - 32	mmol/L
ALANINE AMINOTRANSFERASE	22	0 - 47	U/L
ALBUMIN	3.9	3.4 - 5.0	g/dL