Why you can’t rely on the complete blood count when checking through

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Why is a full blood count not enough to fully assess our health?

“Your values ​​are fine so far!” Anyone who hears this from the doctor during a routine check-up is usually reassured that they are perfectly healthy. If you don’t feel physically healthy, but get the green light from a blood test, you’re naturally unsettled. How can everything be OK on paper when you sense that something is wrong?

The explanation and the problem is that many health factors are not taken into account. “Big” blood count gives the impression that all important parameters are examined – but unfortunately far from it. Imagine you go to a new restaurant with a companion and you try a few dishes. You can then judge how good the ordered food was and form a first impression of the restaurant. But you can’t say for sure whether it’s recommendable with all its dishes. In the same way, the complete blood count also only checks part of the “menu”…

What important health markers might be missed in a full blood count?

The full blood count is made up of the small blood count and the so-called extended or differential blood count. Above all, it indicates possible diseases of the blood such as coagulation disorders and can provide a suspicion of certain diseases such as acute or chronic infections. However, most people are unaware that it does not provide a clear indication of the condition of our organs such as the heart, kidneys, liver, intestines, thyroid, etc. Inflammatory markers, the hormone or the nutrient status are also not examined in the usual blood counts, so that possible deficiencies are completely overlooked.

Our health stands and falls with all these factors. So if you get good values ​​in the complete blood count, you can unfortunately still not feel safe.

What additional blood values ​​should we check regularly to assess our health and why?

The more data we have about our state of health, the better we can of course react to existing symptoms and prevent diseases. From a purely health point of view, one could say: the more laboratory values, the better – if there weren’t the question of costs. The patient has to pay for most of the values ​​out of their own pocket.

In order to prioritize the most important values, everyone should speak individually with a doctor, therapist or health professional. For example, it can make a difference whether you want to act purely preventively or whether you want to find the cause of very specific symptoms.

The list of values ​​that should ideally be determined in addition to the full blood count is long. The organs include kidney, liver and pancreas values, as well as a thyroid profile. In addition, inflammation levels, blood lipids and sugar metabolism are meaningful health markers. Often unnoticed, but of crucial importance is our nutrient status. These include omega-3, amino acids, vitamins and minerals. Furthermore, hormone determinations can be recommended.

Incidentally, not only blood is a valuable source of information, but also saliva, urine and stool. For example, our gut has a much bigger impact on our overall health than most realize. More than 70 percent of our immune system is located there. Modern analyzes of our intestinal flora are correspondingly revealing, which is why I have all my clients carried out in a special laboratory.

How can one proceed to have these additional laboratory values ​​determined?

As already mentioned, the analyzes are primarily a question of cost, since only a few are covered by health insurance companies. Individual additional values ​​are not so important financially. But if you want a wide range of laboratory values, you can quickly get to a three-digit amount.

Although the patient bears most of the costs anyway, the doctor himself could also put obstacles in the way. Above all, physicians with a very classic conventional medical training are often skeptical about the added value of the additional evaluations. Especially if they only serve prevention, i.e. the prevention of illness. However, more and more holistically thinking physicians are recognizing the enormous potential and are promoting extended laboratory diagnostics. With my clients, too, I find that it is not always easy to get hold of the values. But in view of the valuable results, it has always been worth it!

Alternatively, you can also easily commission the desired analyzes yourself from an independent laboratory and discuss them with a therapist or holistic health expert.

How often should these additional tests be performed?

Health is our greatest and most important asset. With this principle in mind, the ideal would be to repeat the analyzes every three to six months. Of course – also for financial reasons – this is not an everyday solution for most people. Therefore, it is advisable to first make as large an “all-round” of blood values ​​as possible in order to identify any defects and abnormalities as best as possible. In consultation with the doctor or therapist, sensible time windows and future examinations can then be determined.

As a pure preventive measure, it makes sense to have a blood count that is as comprehensive as possible drawn up every year. Who doesn’t want to know years or even decades in advance when health problems are imminent and want to act as early as possible? This is exactly why blood diagnostics is an incredibly valuable tool.

You only understand how valuable that is when you know how blood values ​​are evaluated: whether your own results are “good” or “bad” is assessed on the basis of the average of all submitted blood values! And they often come from people who are already ill. In other words, an “okay” from the doctor only means that the values ​​are in the reference range – but not necessarily in the optimal range. So if you can also determine your own reference ranges through regular blood tests, you have a clear advantage.

Can diet and lifestyle changes affect blood counts?

Yes, in any case! Unbalanced, pro-inflammatory and incorrect diet, alcohol consumption, cigarettes, drugs, stress, environmental pollution and much more: The fact that all of this is demonstrably harmful to our health is also reflected in the blood count.

How much in our own hands we have it in our own hands to positively influence a wide range of values, doctors and therapists who work holistically, and I too, can report on this from my daily work. In general, I would like to emphasize at this point that a large and constantly growing group of physicians and experts share the information and recommendations described here with me.

Micronutrient deficiencies in particular are widespread in our population. After dozens of analyzed blood counts, I myself have never seen anyone who did not show any deficits in this area during the first corresponding laboratory test. These deficiencies can be responsible for non-specific symptoms such as listlessness, depressive moods, fatigue, hair loss or increased susceptibility to infections. If they persist for decades, they can even lead to serious metabolic disorders and increase the risk of classic lifestyle diseases. Such deficiencies run the risk of going completely undetected by relying solely on standard blood counts. I can only encourage everyone to collect data about their own bodies as preventively as possible.

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