What should a baseline lab panel for men include?

A baseline panel is the lab draw worth running before any plan is written. The markers below are the ones argued for across the Library. It is the panel a private internist would order if the patient asked for everything that matters and nothing that does not.

This is what belongs on it, why each marker earns its spot, and what to do with the numbers.

What the panel covers

About twenty markers across five domains: cardiovascular, metabolic, hormonal, inflammatory, and organ baseline. Usually one fasting draw.

The goal is not the largest panel on the market. It is the smallest panel that lets a clinician write a plan with confidence. Every marker should change a decision.

The cardiovascular block

The cardiovascular block is where most of the interpretive time goes, because it is where most men over 35 carry the most under-managed risk.

• Total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides. The conventional lipid panel, included as context.
• ApoB. The atherogenic particle count. The cardiovascular number worth managing most closely. Covered in ApoB: the lipid number.
• Lp(a). The inherited cardiovascular risk number, measured once. Covered in the Lp(a) piece.
• hsCRP. Chronic inflammation marker that independently predicts cardiovascular events.

A clinician reads the cardiovascular block as a system, not as four separate numbers. ApoB drives the plan. Lp(a) sets how aggressively. hsCRP and the conventional lipids fill in the texture.

The metabolic block

Six markers that together describe insulin sensitivity, glucose handling, and metabolic reserve.

• Fasting glucose. Baseline glucose under conditions of metabolic rest.
• Fasting insulin. The earliest signal of insulin resistance, often years ahead of HbA1c. The marker most consistently missed by standard primary care.
• HbA1c. Three-month glucose average.
• HOMA-IR. Calculated insulin resistance score from fasting glucose and insulin.
• Liver enzymes (AST, ALT, GGT). Liver health and a proxy for fatty liver disease, which is now the most common cause of liver disease in men.
• Uric acid. Underrated metabolic marker, elevated in insulin resistance and a clean signal in men who present without obvious metabolic disease.

The hormonal block

Three markers that together describe androgen status.

• Total testosterone. The standard headline number.
• Free testosterone (calculated or measured). The biologically active fraction.
• Sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG). The protein that binds testosterone in circulation, and the reason total T and free T diverge.

A clinician needs all three to interpret androgen status. A total testosterone of 600 with an SHBG of 65 nmol/L is a very different physiology than the same total testosterone with an SHBG of 25. A testosterone decision should never come from a single number.

The thyroid block

• TSH. The pituitary signal to the thyroid.
• Free T4. The active thyroid hormone the gland is producing.

Free T3 and antibodies get added when TSH or T4 are abnormal, or when symptoms warrant it. The two-marker thyroid baseline catches the meaningful fraction of subclinical thyroid disease in men over 40.

The micronutrient block

• Vitamin D (25-OH). Low levels are nearly universal in indoor-working adults at temperate latitudes. Fixing it is cheap and meaningful.
• Ferritin. Iron storage and inflammation indicator. Doubles as a hemochromatosis screen.
• Vitamin B12. Cognitive, hematologic, and cardiovascular signal. Levels under 400 pg/mL are functionally low even when "in range."

The organ baseline

• Comprehensive metabolic panel. Kidney function (creatinine, eGFR), electrolytes, liver function, glucose.
• CBC with differential. Red cell, white cell, and platelet counts. Anemia, infection, and hematologic disease screen.

These rarely change management on their own. They are the safety net. When they catch something, it is almost always something the rest of the panel would not have flagged.

A full baseline panel

Cardiovascular: Total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides, ApoB, Lp(a), hsCRP

Metabolic: Fasting glucose, fasting insulin, HbA1c, HOMA-IR, liver enzymes (AST, ALT, GGT), uric acid

Hormonal: Total testosterone, free testosterone, SHBG

Thyroid: TSH, free T4

Micronutrient: Vitamin D (25-OH), ferritin, vitamin B12

Organ baseline: Comprehensive metabolic panel, CBC with differential

What a clinician does with the results

The panel without interpretation is a stack of paper. A good read:

1. Read the panel against age-appropriate ranges, not just lab "normal." Lab normals include the unwell.
2. Identify the dominant driver. Most men have one marker or one cluster that explains most of the picture. The plan leads with that.
3. Cross-check the hormonal and metabolic data. Low free testosterone with high SHBG and elevated fasting insulin is a different plan than low free testosterone in isolation.
4. Address two or three things, not nine. Doing fewer things well beats doing many things partially.
5. Plan the rerun. Most markers move on a 12-week timeline. The follow-up panel is when the plan is judged.

The output should not be a "scorecard." It should be a document that says: here is what your physiology is doing, here is what to change, here is what to expect next.

Where Baseline fits

Vane Baseline pairs a men's lab panel with a 20-minute clinician video and a written plan. The Baseline page has the current price and when it opens in your state.

The bottom line

If you have never had a panel like this run, it is one of the highest-leverage things you can do for your next decade of health. The goal is a clear, current read of where your physiology is, and a clinician who knows what to do with the answer.