Biomarkers

Oct 26, 2026

Many people with hereditary hemochromatosis have no symptoms for years. Here is what iron overload can feel like, who should be tested, and the blood tests that find it, starting with transferrin saturation and ferritin before HFE gene testing.

Oct 23, 2026

Bubbles in your urine are usually harmless, but foam that keeps coming back can be a sign of protein in the urine. Learn what normal bubbles look like, the common causes, and which urine tests answer the question.

Oct 22, 2026

High triglycerides with normal cholesterol is a common lipid panel result. Learn why the two can split, whether it is dangerous, why a normal LDL can be misleading when triglycerides are high, and which tests to check next.

Oct 20, 2026

An underactive thyroid is linked with anxiety, but the evidence is mixed and the symptoms overlap with an overactive thyroid and with anxiety itself. Learn what the research shows and which TSH and free T4 patterns tell them apart.

Oct 19, 2026

Stress alone is not an established explanation for high ALT or AST. Understand the evidence, exercise-related changes, other causes, and the tests that help clarify the pattern.

Oct 18, 2026

Low vitamin D has not been shown to cause weight gain. The evidence mostly runs the other way: carrying more body fat lowers the vitamin D level measured in your blood. Large randomized trials found that vitamin D supplements do not change weight or body fat, and they do not cause weight gain either. A 25-hydroxyvitamin D blood test shows whether your level is actually low.

Oct 15, 2026

Routine blood work cannot diagnose or rule out lymphoma. A complete blood count is often normal in lymphoma, even in aggressive types. Some results, such as anemia, low or high white cells, high LDH or a high ESR, can prompt a closer look, but each has far more common causes. Lymphoma is diagnosed with a biopsy, usually of a lymph node.

Oct 13, 2026

Low hemoglobin is usually not a sign of cancer. Iron deficiency is the most common cause of anemia, and most iron deficiency comes from diet, menstrual blood loss or pregnancy. Cancer can lower hemoglobin through slow bleeding in the gut or by crowding the bone marrow, and the rest of your blood count, ferritin and a few follow-up tests show which pattern you have.

Oct 12, 2026

High calcium on routine blood work is usually not cancer. An overactive parathyroid gland is the most common cause, and cancer that raises calcium is usually already advanced and causing other symptoms. Parathyroid hormone (PTH), measured with calcium, is the test that separates the two.