Discussing blood tests with your clinician

Written by Steve Fayzulayev. Clinically reviewed by Naomi Fayzulayev, FNP-C, MSN.

Last reviewed 2026-11-09. See our editorial policy and methodology.

There is no single longevity panel that is right for everyone. Start with existing results and discuss which, if any, additional tests make sense for your circumstances.

Start with what you already have

Bring recent reports, including dates, test names and units. Panels differ by laboratory; your clinician can help identify which results are still useful.

The assessment can use a selection of available inputs. Its list is not a recommendation to obtain every test.

Discuss possible inputs in context

ApoB, HbA1c, fasting insulin, hs-CRP and kidney measurements answer different questions and have different limitations. Not every measurement is clinically useful or necessary for every person.

Ask whether a result would change your care, whether an existing test is sufficient, and whether the cost and coverage are acceptable. A clinician can interpret results alongside your history and other findings.

Having the conversation

Use the lab discussion list to select inputs you want to discuss. Its output is a conversation aid, not a medical order or a recommendation to obtain the whole list.

Ask which choices are appropriate for you, what a result could mean, and who will explain the results and arrange any necessary follow-up.

Fasting, timing and logistics

Ask your clinician and laboratory for preparation and timing instructions for the tests actually ordered. Do not fast or change medicines against medical advice.

Mention recent illness, medication and supplements because they can affect preparation or interpretation.

How often to repeat

Ask whether and when to repeat a particular test. Follow-up depends on the result, reason for testing and your medical circumstances; a general calculator schedule cannot replace that advice.

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Frequently asked questions

What blood tests should I ask for?

There is no single longevity panel that is right for everyone. Start with existing results and discuss which, if any, additional tests make sense for your circumstances.

What does this guide cover?

This guide covers: Start with what you already have; Discuss possible inputs in context; Having the conversation; Fasting, timing and logistics; How often to repeat.

All guides

Sources and further reading

Not medical advice. These are longevity-optimised reference ranges, which are deliberately stricter than standard clinical "normal" values. A value outside them does not mean you have a disease. Speak to a qualified healthcare professional before changing medication, supplements or training. Full disclaimer.
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What blood tests should I ask for?

There is no single longevity panel that is right for everyone. Start with existing results and discuss which, if any, additional tests make sense for your circumstances.

What does this guide cover?

This guide covers: Start with what you already have; Discuss possible inputs in context; Having the conversation; Fasting, timing and logistics; How often to repeat.

What is biological age?

Chronological age counts birthdays. Biological age estimates how old your body appears to be functioning, based on measurable biomarkers. Two people born the same year can differ by a decade or more in vascular stiffness, insulin signalling or cardiorespiratory fitness. Biological age makes that gap explicit — and unlike your birthday, it can move in either direction.

How is the Longevity Score calculated?

Each biomarker you enter is scored against longevity-optimised reference ranges and grouped into one of eight dials. Every dial produces its own biological age, and those are combined using fixed weights into a single composite, then expressed as a Longevity Score from 0 to 100. The weighting reflects how strongly each system predicts healthspan: structural and vascular carry the most, hormonal the least.

Do I need all 53 biomarkers?

No. The short form contains a subset of scoring inputs plus context-only fields, and you can leave any of them blank. It is not a recommendation to obtain tests. Missing values are excluded from the calculation — never treated as zero or as 'normal'. A dial with no scored data is dropped entirely and the remaining weights renormalise.

What can I measure without a blood test?

Some inputs can be measured without bloodwork. Blood pressure needs a home cuff and waist-to-height needs a tape measure. Wearable estimates vary; the floor-based sitting-rising test carries a fall risk and should only be attempted if safe.

Is this an anti-aging calculator? Is it a healthspan calculator?

Both terms describe what this tool does, and which one fits depends on what you are asking. "Anti-aging" is the term most people search, and loosely means anything aimed at slowing or reversing age-related decline — this tool fits that description if you score your dials and act on what you find. "Healthspan calculator" is the more precise term: healthspan is the number of years lived without serious chronic disease or disability, and that cannot be measured directly, so this tool scores eight systems that each function as an early-warning proxy for it. Either way, the method is the same: real biomarkers, published thresholds, no vanity-metric framing.

Why don't you have a quick quiz that skips biomarkers entirely?

Several popular tools ask only about habits — exercise days, sleep hours, smoking, diet quality — and return a single precise-looking age. We looked at the research behind that approach and chose not to build it. Published studies do show real, individually-measured links between specific habits and epigenetic age acceleration, but those effect sizes come from different study populations, different DNA-methylation clocks and different measurement units. Adding them together into one number is not something the underlying research actually supports — it produces a precise-looking result built on an imprecise method. Our dials use direct physiological measurements instead: a real blood pressure reading, a real VO₂ max, a real ApoB value. Several dials score from home-measurable data alone with no quiz-guessing involved — see what you can measure without a blood test, above.

Why are your 'optimal' ranges stricter than my lab's normal range?

Standard reference ranges describe what is common in a general population, which now includes a great deal of metabolic dysfunction. They are tuned to flag disease, not to identify what is optimal for a long healthspan. A fasting insulin of 20 µIU/mL sits inside most labs' normal range and is strongly associated with insulin resistance. This tool uses longevity-optimised thresholds instead, so a flag here means room for optimisation — not a diagnosis.

Why not just upload my labs to ChatGPT?

For understanding a single result, do — a frontier chat model is genuinely good at that, often clearer than most medical sites, and it handles markers no fixed tool covers. The limitation is different from the one most people assume. A language model produces a plausible response rather than a computed one, so the same panel can score differently on different days. That is fine when exploring an idea and disqualifying when measuring change, because you cannot tell how much of a difference is you and how much is the method. Use both: a chat model to understand, a fixed instrument to track.

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