Research

The research behind why we test

We built Health Panel around what the evidence actually supports, not around what sounds good in an ad. Here's real published research on why knowing your numbers matters, what can happen when a marker goes unaddressed, and what the evidence says about actually improving one. This page is educational, not medical advice. Always talk to a licensed physician about your specific results.

1. 1Does routine testing help?

   Testing works best with a purpose, not just on autopilot

   You might expect research to say "the more you test, the better." The actual evidence is more specific than that. A major 2019 Cochrane review pooling 15 randomized trials and over 250,000 adults found that offering healthy, unselected adults a general multi-condition health check did not reduce deaths from any cause, heart disease, or cancer, and increased the number of new diagnoses without a matching improvement in health outcomes. That's exactly why Health Panel doesn't push blanket "test everything, constantly" messaging. We think testing is most useful when it's tied to your specific risk factors, symptoms, or something you're actively tracking over time (like a hormone or nutrient level after a change in diet or training), and reviewed by a physician who can put your specific numbers in context, rather than treated as a one-size-fits-all routine.

   Citation

   Krogsbøll LT, Jørgensen KJ, Gøtzsche PC. "General health checks in adults for reducing morbidity and mortality from disease." Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2019;1(1):CD009009.

   View source(PubMed 30699470)↗

   Honest scope: This review covers unselected, general health checks in average-risk adults, not targeted testing in people with known risk factors, symptoms, or an existing condition being monitored. It does not evaluate the value of trend-tracking over time for someone already managing a specific marker.

2. 2What you can't feel

   What an unaddressed marker can mean

   Some of the most important numbers in a blood panel don't come with symptoms. A large 2010 study published in JAMA pooled data from 11 studies and over 55,000 people worldwide and found that more significantly elevated thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), a marker of subclinical (often symptomless) hypothyroidism, was linked to a meaningfully higher risk of coronary heart disease. People wouldn't typically know their TSH was elevated without a blood test. That's the case for testing: a number on a page can matter for your heart even when you feel fine.

   Citation

   Rodondi N, den Elzen WPJ, Bauer DC, et al. (Thyroid Studies Collaboration). "Subclinical Hypothyroidism and the Risk of Coronary Heart Disease and Mortality." JAMA. 2010;304(12):1365-1374.

   View source(PubMed 20858880)↗

   Honest scope: The elevated risk was concentrated in more significant TSH elevations (≥10 mIU/L); milder elevations were not shown to carry the same risk. This study shows an association between the marker and cardiovascular risk, it does not by itself prove that treating the abnormality prevents heart disease. Talk to your doctor about what any specific result means for you.

3. 3Once you know

   Once you know, evidence-based changes can help

   Testing is only useful if there's something you can do with the result. Iron is a good example of a marker where there's real evidence behind a fix. A 2022 systematic review in the journal Nutrients looked at 14 randomized controlled trials of dietary interventions in women with confirmed iron-deficiency anemia, and found that increasing iron-rich foods, especially when paired with vitamin C to help absorption, meaningfully improved iron status in most of the trials reviewed. If your panel shows a low iron result, that's a real, evidence-backed conversation to have with your doctor about diet, not just a number to file away.

   Citation

   Skolmowska D, Głąbska D, Kołota A, Guzek D. "Effectiveness of Dietary Interventions to Treat Iron-Deficiency Anemia in Women: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials." Nutrients. 2022;14(13):2724.

   View source(doi.org/10.3390/nu14132724)↗

   Honest scope: This review specifically studied women of childbearing age with a confirmed iron-deficiency anemia diagnosis, not the general population or a prevention context, and it's a narrative synthesis of a moderate number of small trials, not a single pooled statistical result. Diet is not a substitute for medical evaluation of anemia, and any specific plan should come from your reviewing physician.