blood panel
Glucose is the primary sugar in your blood — your body's preferred fuel source. Every cell in your body, especially your brain and muscles, runs on glucose. It comes from the food you eat, particularly carbohydrates, and is regulated by a hormone called insulin, produced by your pancreas.
In the blood
Because red blood cells live for roughly 90–120 days, your A1C gives your doctor a rolling average of your blood sugar levels over the past two to three months. No single meal, no lucky morning, no last-minute cleanup before a blood draw can fake it.
blood panel
When most people hear "carbon dioxide," they think of exhaled breath, greenhouse gases, or carbonated drinks. In the context of your blood panel, CO2 means something more specific and more medically important: it's a measure of bicarbonate — your blood's primary chemical buffer system.
blood panel
Blood urea nitrogen — BUN — is a measure of how much urea is circulating in your bloodstream. To understand it, you need to understand where urea comes from.
blood panel
You've heard about calcium your whole life. Drink your milk. Strong bones. End of story. The real story is far more interesting — and far more important to your survival than most people realize.
blood panel
It's one of the least-discussed numbers on the standard blood panel. But total protein is quietly telling your doctor three things at once — how well you're eating, how well your liver is working, and how hard your immune system is fighting.
Health
It doesn't get the headlines that sodium does. But if sodium is the gas pedal, potassium is the brake — and most of us have been driving without it.
blood panel
Sodium's primary job is fluid regulation. It controls the balance of water inside and outside your cells, and it works in constant partnership with potassium to maintain that balance.
blood panel
It rarely makes headlines and most people can't tell you what it does. But chloride is working every second to keep your blood chemistry stable, your digestion running, and your lungs doing their job.
In the blood
Of all the kidney markers on your blood panel, creatinine is the most revealing. But it comes with a catch — one that trips up doctors and patients alike when they forget to ask about the person behind the number.
As we look forward to the 250th anniversary of the United States on July 4, 2026, it’s a moment to pause and reflect on what makes us America. This milestone—two and a half centuries since the signing of the Declaration of Independence—invites us to revisit the roots,
Be thankful for people like Shannon Kent. Shannon Mary Kent was a United States Navy Senior Chief Petty Officer and cryptologic technician whose remarkable military career was marked by courage, linguistic prowess, and trailblazing service in special operations. Born on May 11, 1983, in Oswego, New York, and raised in