Edit Your Blood with WellnessFx

I’m never satisfied with the “everything looks fine” phrase that I hear from my doctor when I get the results of my blood work. It’s like, “Is that it? I just let you peek into the depths of my life-source and all you have to say is everything looks fine?”  Besides, what does that “fine” really mean? I have always craved for more; more explanations, more analysis, more suggestions and at least a few graphs. My prayers were answered when I heard about WellnessFx on Tim Ferriss’s, “The 4 Hour Life: Healthy, Wealthy and Wise” online workshop at Creative Live. I checked out the website and they promised, “extensive biomarker diagnostics with a personalized phone consult”. I was completely sold when I saw those glorious graphs on their site and decided to go in for a WellnessFx consult instead of my regular physical this year.

The Experience:

On an early morning in late November, I drove to Dynacorp at Swedish Medical in Sammamish, Washington for my blood draw. The process was quick and easy. The lady at the front desk immediately recognized the WellnessFx request form for the blood draw and sent me to the lab. The lady who drew my blood told me that a lot of people use the service, especially at the end of the year to use their FSA (flexible spending account) benefits. Everyone was polite, courteous and efficient and the whole procedure took about 15 minutes.

After a couple of days, I received an email to remind me to fill in details of family and health history. It had standard questions such as history of chronic diseases in my paternal and maternal side, lifestyle choices such as smoking, alcohol use etc. It also got into non-standard stuff such as details about diet, sleep quality and a break down of cardio and strength activities.

I also got a mail as soon as my lab results were on the site and especially like how the results were displayed in a chart form. The chart depicted where I stood in the number range that was considered normal for any category. Most of casino my results looked good and I scheduled my 20 minute consult with a registered dietician on December 3^rd. Well, I completely forgot about the consult and had to reschedule my consult for December 17^th. The Wellness Fx people were nice about it and did not charge me the $25 fee for rescheduling my appointment.

My consult with the dietician was 20 minutes long with her talking most of the time, Yet another snowstorm is causing flight delays, road problems and forcing high school boarding schools to close for the day. about my “scope for improvement” areas, my LDL cholesterol and particle size numbers and my vitamin D levels. I learned a few new things about the particle size numbers and impact on cardiovascular health, but 20 minutes was too short of a time to talk in depth about my cholesterol numbers. I’m a gluten-free vegetarian with a normal BMI, yet my LDL levels have always been on the higher side. The Wellness Fx test also revealed my Apo B levels, a direct measurement of the number of lipoproteins, was in the higher range. The ApoB screen isn’t always included in a routine blood test, and so these numbers were illuminating for me. While I was not able to get all my questions answered during the consult, I got some insightful answers in the webinar with Ben Greenfield that WellnessFx had, just a few days after my consullt.

The other area of concern was my Vitamin D level. The number was 17 last year and after a whole year of supplementing with Vitamin D3, and 3 vacations to super-sunny spots, the level has remained 17. The dietician suggested upping my dose of Vitamin D3 and taking the supplement with a full meal for better absorption.

In Summary:

I’m a regular paying customer, have no affiliations with Wellnes Fx and opted for the baseline package that cost $199. While the WellnessFx test measures most of the important biomarkers, it leaves out some that are especially important for women, such as a complete blood count, the serum ferritin, and the free T3 and T4 tests. A complete blood count test along with a serum ferritin test can detect iron issues and provide solutions for common conditions that many menstruating women complain about such as fatigue, feeling cold, foggy thinking and hair loss. Also, although most labs measure the Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) to evaluate thyroid function, a more complete panel should also include the free T3, and free T4 levels for further insight. Moreover, low thyroid issues are sometimes linked with high cholesterol, sub-optimal iron levels, and metabolic issues causing a list of confounding symptoms. I wish that they would offer a women’s package, complete with all these tests along with a consult with an expert on these issues, for all of us lovely women on the planet.

Overall, my experience with WelnessFx was a positive one. I’m delighted that we have finally stepped into a time where a personalized approach to health and all the possibilities it holds, is a reality. All I need to do when I want to take a peek at my “internal health” (blood replaces itself every 90-120 days) is log on, drive to a lab, and have the results on my computer with neat graphs, in a matter of days. Based on those results, I can make edits to my lifestyle and nutrition habits, to improve my health. Wellness Fx makes health editing easy.

My Cholesterol and Particle size screen