Articles tagged

Labs

6 articles. Plain-language guides, sourced, and never a diagnosis.

Latest guide

GuidesSeptember 16, 2026 5 min read

HbA1c vs fasting glucose — which test to ask for, and why the honest answer is usually both

HbA1c averages three months of blood sugar; fasting glucose is one morning. They disagree more often than people expect — iron deficiency and some haemoglobin variants shift HbA1c. What each test measures, the ranges clinicians use, and how to read both.

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The metabolic screening card: TyG index, TG:HDL ratio, HOMA-IR and the metabolic-syndrome criteria, each with its reference range and the date of the draw — Metabolic screening · example data

GuidesSeptember 16, 2026 5 min read

Perimenopause or something else? What to track before you ask your doctor

Cycles getting shorter, then longer, then skipping; sleep and mood changing; a hot flush or two. Perimenopause is one explanation, not the only one — and clinicians identify it from your history, not one hormone test. What to track before the appointment.

GuidesSeptember 15, 2026 5 min read

Heavy periods and low ferritin — what your own data can show, and what only a clinician can tell you

Heavy menstrual bleeding is one of the commonest causes of low iron, and it is often under-reported at appointments. Learn what "heavy" means in clinical terms, what a ferritin result does and does not tell you, and how to put both on one page for your doctor.

GuidesSeptember 15, 2026 5 min read

The one page to bring to your doctor — and why most self-tracked data never gets read

Appointments are short and clinicians read in a fixed order — concern, problem list, allergies, medications. Here is how to turn months of tracked data into one page a doctor can use, and how AuraShield generates it for free.

GuidesSeptember 15, 2026 5 min read

Prediabetes hides for years. Here is the two-minute screen that needs no blood test

Most adults with prediabetes don't know they have it. The FINDRISC questionnaire — eight questions, validated over a decade of follow-up — gives a first read of type 2 diabetes risk with no bloodwork at all. Here is how it works and what to do with the result.

GuidesSeptember 15, 2026 5 min read

How to read the labs you already have — TyG, TG/HDL, HOMA-IR and the five metabolic-syndrome criteria

A routine blood panel holds more than the numbers it reports. Learn what the TyG index, the TG/HDL ratio, HOMA-IR and the five metabolic-syndrome criteria are, how they are calculated, and what they can and cannot tell you.