Health Report Card

Some time back I had gone to a doctor for annual check up and he asked me "Do you exercise?" I mentioned to him that I practice yoga. He persisted "Yoga is not exercise, I am asking if you go to Gym or some other form of exercise?" I said no. It set me wondering if yoga practice can help you to be fit or not. Nevertheless I continued my practice and life went on.

I have recently completed the 13th week of 30 week yoga course. I was interested in knowing about my medical profile. I went for Bio Chemical test of my blood last week to see how the vital organs are functioning. I want to share the result with the readers of my blog here.

It is difficult for most of us to understand the terms used in the report. I have tried to include the meaning/interpretation below.

Test	Result	Normal Range	Indicator
Glucose Fasting	92.00 mg/dl	60-110 mg/dl	Pancreas, Diabetes
Total Lipids	512.0 mg/dl	400 – 700 mg/dl	Risk of Heart disease and Blood Vessels health
S. Cholesterol	186.0 mg/dl	up to 250 mg/dl	Risk of Heart disease
HDL Cholesterol	40.00 mg/dl	30-80 mg/dl	Risk of Heart disease
LDL Cholesterol	118.0 mg/dl	up to 120	Risk of Heart disease
VLDL	28.00 mg/dl	more than 40	Risk of Heart disease and Stroke
Risk Ratio	4.6	3 – 6	Risk of Heart disease
Creatinine	0.79 mg/dl	0.6 – 1.4 mg/dl	Kidney Damage
Blood Urea	21.0 mg/dl	10 – 40	Kidney Damage
Blood Urea Nitrogen	11.3 mg/dl	10 – 40	Kidney Damage
Total Bilirubin	0.70 mg/dl	0 – 1.0 mg/dl	Liver Functioning
SGOT	29.0 u/l	up to 49	How your Liver, Kidney, Heart, Pancreas, Muscles and Red Blood cells are functioning
SGPT	23.0 u/l	up to 49	Liver Damage
Total Protein	6.8 g/dl	6.0 – 8.3	Nutrition status, Kidney and Liver Function
A/G Ratio	1.25:1	1.2-1.8 : 1	Liver Functioning
GGTP	28.3	10 – 45	Tests Hyperthyrodism and Cirrhosis of the liver

Interpretation

As you can see this blood test was primarily done to test four major things. Presence of blood sugar which can detect diabetes, cholesterol levels which can identify heart diseases risk, Liver disease and Kidney function. From the reports it seems that things are fine at this point.

I am in my late thirties and I think considering that, this is a good report. Though I would prefer lower LDL and higher HDL.

I think I have become fitter over the past one year and it is due to Yoga practice. I still have little tummy fat which I believe should be gone in next six months because the practice is becoming more intense as I progress in my course. To summarize, yoga practice has helped me to gain strength, build stamina, and improve flexibility and functioning of internal organs.

I plan to share another report six months later when I would done with my 30 week Yoga Course. It would be interesting to compare the results.