How to Read Your Lab Results: CBC, Blood Sugar, and Cholesterol Explained

A lab report is designed for your doctor, not for you. It arrives as a wall of abbreviations with a reference range beside each one and an H or L next to anything outside it — and the two weeks before your follow-up appointment are when people do their worst googling.

This guide explains what the common values on a Philippine lab report measure. It is written to make you a better-informed patient at your next consultation, not to replace one.

Read this first. Reference ranges are not the same at every laboratory. They depend on the analyser, the assay, and the population the lab calibrated against, which is why your report prints its own ranges beside your values. Always compare your result to the range printed on your own report. A flagged value is a prompt to ask a question, not a diagnosis — and a normal value does not rule out disease.

Complete Blood Count (CBC)

The CBC counts the cells in your blood. It is the most-ordered test in the Philippines and appears in essentially every annual physical exam package.

Value	Typical adult range	Measures	Often low in	Often high in
Hemoglobin (Hgb)	Men 13.5–17.5 g/dL; women 12.0–15.5 g/dL	Oxygen-carrying capacity	Anemia, iron deficiency, blood loss	Dehydration, smoking, lung disease
Hematocrit (Hct)	Men 41–50%; women 36–44%	Share of blood that is red cells	Anemia	Dehydration
RBC	Men 4.5–5.9 M/µL; women 4.1–5.1 M/µL	Red cell count	Anemia	Dehydration
WBC	4,500–11,000 /µL	Immune cells	Some viral infections, marrow problems	Bacterial infection, inflammation, stress
Platelets	150,000–450,000 /µL	Clotting cells	Dengue, some infections	Inflammation, iron deficiency
MCV	80–100 fL	Average red cell size	Iron deficiency	B12 or folate deficiency

What actually matters here. Low hemoglobin is the most common abnormality on a Filipino CBC, and it is very often iron deficiency — heavy periods in women, dietary intake, or occult blood loss. It is worth chasing the cause, not just taking iron.

The MCV is the underused number: it tells your doctor which kind of anemia. Small cells point toward iron deficiency; large cells point toward B12 or folate.

On platelets and dengue: a falling platelet count during a febrile illness in the Philippines is taken seriously, and rightly so. What matters clinically is the trend across serial CBCs plus your symptoms, not one number in isolation. Warning signs — persistent vomiting, abdominal pain, bleeding gums, lethargy — mean the emergency room regardless of the count.

Blood Sugar: FBS and HbA1c

Two tests, two different jobs. Fasting blood sugar is a snapshot; HbA1c is roughly a three-month average.

Result	Fasting blood sugar	HbA1c
Normal	Below 100 mg/dL	Below 5.7%
Prediabetes	100–125 mg/dL	5.7–6.4%
Diabetes range	126 mg/dL or above	6.5% or above

Two points people consistently miss:

Prediabetes is the finding that matters most. A fasting sugar of 112 mg/dL prints as a mild flag and reads as almost-fine. It is the stage at which diet, weight, and activity changes still reliably work. Ignored, a meaningful share of people in that band progress to type 2 diabetes within a few years.

One high reading is not a diagnosis. Diagnosis normally requires confirmation — a repeat test, or a second abnormal test of a different type. A single 130 mg/dL after a stressful week and a poor night's sleep needs rechecking, not a prescription.

HbA1c is the more informative of the two, because it cannot be gamed by fasting well for one morning. It is also less reliable if you have anemia or certain hemoglobin variants, which is one more reason to interpret it alongside the CBC rather than alone.

Lipid Profile (Cholesterol)

Four values, and only some of them are worth reacting to.

Value	Desirable	Borderline	High
Total cholesterol	Below 200 mg/dL	200–239	240+
LDL ("bad")	Below 100 mg/dL	130–159	160+
HDL ("good")	60+ mg/dL is protective	—	Below 40 (men) / 50 (women) is a risk factor
Triglycerides	Below 150 mg/dL	150–199	200+

LDL is the number that drives treatment, and its target is not fixed — it depends on your overall cardiovascular risk. Someone who has already had a heart attack or has diabetes is targeted far more aggressively than a healthy 30-year-old with the same LDL. This is why "my cholesterol is 210" means very different things for different people, and why the Philippine dyslipidemia guidelines developed by the Philippine Heart Association, the Philippine Lipid and Atherosclerosis Society, and the Philippine Society of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism frame targets by risk category rather than by a single cut-off.

HDL reads backwards from the others. Higher is better. Low HDL is common in Filipinos and responds to aerobic exercise and stopping smoking more than to diet.

Triglycerides are the most volatile value on the panel. They spike with alcohol, refined carbohydrates, and inadequate fasting. A mildly high result after a weekend of drinking is frequently just that — repeat it properly fasted before drawing conclusions.

The exception: 500 mg/dL or above is not a "repeat it later" result. Severe hypertriglyceridemia carries a real risk of acute pancreatitis, and current guidance is to have it evaluated and often treated promptly rather than watched. Contact your doctor without waiting for a scheduled follow-up. If you develop severe abdominal pain, persistent nausea, or vomiting, go to an emergency room — that combination can be pancreatitis.

Kidney and Liver Values

Value	Typical range	What it indicates
Creatinine	Men 0.7–1.3 mg/dL; women 0.6–1.1 mg/dL	Kidney filtration; rises as function falls
eGFR	90+ mL/min/1.73m²	Calculated kidney function; below 60 for 3 months suggests chronic kidney disease
BUN	7–20 mg/dL	Kidney function, also affected by dehydration and protein intake
Uric acid	Men 3.4–7.0 mg/dL; women 2.4–6.0 mg/dL	High levels associate with gout and kidney stones
SGPT / ALT	~7–56 U/L	Liver cell injury
SGOT / AST	~10–40 U/L	Liver and muscle injury

eGFR is more informative than creatinine, because it adjusts for age and sex. A creatinine of 1.2 mg/dL means something quite different in a 25-year-old man than in a 70-year-old woman.

Mildly raised liver enzymes are common and usually not dramatic. Fatty liver disease is now the leading cause in the Philippines, well ahead of alcohol, and it is largely reversible with weight loss. Persistently raised enzymes still deserve a workup — including hepatitis B screening, which remains prevalent here.

Urinalysis

Finding	What it may indicate
Protein	Kidney disease, or transient from fever or exercise
Glucose	Blood sugar high enough to spill into urine
Blood	Infection, stones, or menstrual contamination in women
WBC / pus cells	Urinary tract infection
Bacteria	Infection, or a poorly collected sample
Ketones	Fasting, low-carbohydrate diet, or uncontrolled diabetes

Collection technique matters more here than for any other routine test. A midstream clean-catch sample avoids most false positives, and a large share of "abnormal" urinalyses are collection artefacts rather than disease.

Five Rules for Reading Any Result

1. Use the range printed on your own report. Not one from the internet, and not one from a different laboratory.
2. A single flagged value is a question, not an answer. Most abnormalities need confirmation on a repeat test.
3. Trends beat snapshots. Keep old results. An LDL rising steadily inside the normal range is a real finding.
4. Numbers are interpreted alongside you — your symptoms, age, medications, and family history all change what a value means.
5. The dangerous results are often the unflagged ones. Blood pressure and waist circumference are not on the report, and they predict more than most of what is.

When to Call Sooner

Do not wait for a scheduled follow-up if you have:

• A hemoglobin far below range with breathlessness, chest pain, or fainting
• A platelet count falling during a febrile illness, or any bleeding
• Blood sugar above 250 mg/dL with thirst, frequent urination, or drowsiness
• Triglycerides of 500 mg/dL or above, because of the pancreatitis risk
• A creatinine that has risen sharply from your previous result
• Liver enzymes several times the upper limit, especially with jaundice or dark urine
• Any result your laboratory has flagged as critical — labs phone these through for a reason

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a normal cholesterol level?

Total cholesterol below 200 mg/dL is generally considered desirable, LDL below 100 mg/dL, triglycerides below 150 mg/dL, and HDL of 60 mg/dL or higher is protective. LDL targets are not fixed, though — someone with diabetes or existing heart disease is targeted much more aggressively than a low-risk adult with the same number.

What is a normal fasting blood sugar?

Below 100 mg/dL is normal, 100 to 125 mg/dL indicates prediabetes, and 126 mg/dL or above on more than one occasion is in the diabetes range. A single elevated reading is not a diagnosis and should be confirmed with a repeat test or an HbA1c.

What does HbA1c measure?

HbA1c reflects your average blood sugar over roughly the previous three months, so it cannot be skewed by one morning of careful fasting. Below 5.7% is normal, 5.7 to 6.4% indicates prediabetes, and 6.5% or above is in the diabetes range. It is less reliable if you have anemia or certain hemoglobin variants.

What does a low platelet count mean?

Low platelets can result from viral infections including dengue, certain medications, immune conditions, or bone marrow problems. During a febrile illness in the Philippines a falling count is taken seriously, but the trend across repeated tests and your symptoms matter more than a single value. Bleeding, persistent vomiting, severe abdominal pain, or lethargy warrant emergency assessment regardless of the number.

Why are my liver enzymes slightly high?

Mildly raised SGPT and SGOT are common. Fatty liver disease is now the leading cause in the Philippines, ahead of alcohol, and is largely reversible with weight loss. Other causes include viral hepatitis, certain medications and supplements, and recent intense exercise. Persistently raised enzymes should be investigated, including hepatitis B screening.

Do lab reference ranges differ between laboratories?

Yes, and this is the most important thing to understand about a lab report. Ranges depend on the analyser, the assay method, and the reference population, which is why every report prints its own ranges. Always compare your result to the range on your own report rather than to a range found online.

Should I be worried about one abnormal result?

Usually not on its own. Reference ranges are defined so that a small percentage of perfectly healthy people fall outside them, and many values fluctuate with hydration, recent meals, exercise, illness, and medication. Most abnormal results need confirmation on a repeat test before they mean anything, though results flagged as critical should be acted on immediately.

Get Your Results Explained

The most useful thing you can do with a lab report is bring it to a doctor with your previous ones. Find a general practitioner or an internist near you, or read our guide on which of the two you need.

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This article is general health information, not medical advice. It cannot interpret your specific results, which depend on your history, symptoms, and the reference ranges of the laboratory that produced them. Discuss all results with a licensed physician.