A question about ranges

[The Deadlifting Dog]

Hello all,

I'm curious about the fact that different lab companies provide different ranges for their tests.
More specifically:
Quest Diagnostics shows the total testosterone range as 241-827.
I've seen that different companies have a different range. I remember that another range was something like 300-1000.

So I've got a couple of questions.
Why would there be different ranges if they are testing the same thing?
And more importantly...
If I am at the top of one range (840 in a 241-827 range), would I be at 1020ish in a company that has a 300-1000 range.

[bass]

i don't think so, ng, dl, pg, ml are all the same, so if you're at 840 ng/dl at Quest where the range is 241-827 you'll still be at 840 with labcorp that has a range of 348-1197.

[The Deadlifting Dog]

Thanks Bass. Just leaves me curious as to why the different labs come up with different ranges.
Also makes me jealous that some on TRT have 1000+ testosterone levels. (I know more isn't always better and it's about how you feel and all but I sure wouldn't mind deadlifting 500lbs one day.)

[bass]

use labcorp next time

[rd27]

This was a key discovery of mine when digging into HRT. For most tests the ranges come from what the lab sees, not from from some clinical study of proper ranges. So they are NOT like a USRDA where health professionals have a recommended dosage based on studying what is optimal.

Instead, they are just a sampling, so just being in the reference range doesn't mean you are in an "optimal range". For example, even if you have the average US body mass index, you are still overweight.

A good sticky on this for the HRT tests is "Interpretation of Free Testosterone, Estrogen, and Total Testosterone Blood Tests" (I don't have enough posts to share the direct link).

So to your specific question, Labcorp and Quest may have just done tests on a different range of people. Possibly they may also use a different approach for computing the range from their sampling (e.g. standard deviation vs average standard deviation).

d

[ReverendNewman]

Good reply Bass. I was wondering the same thing with these ranges based on my research. My Test level while on cycle was over 1600. Mt Dr. just wrote on the blood test results to "Get off the supplements". LOL