# Guides to your lab reports

> Doctano turns the lab reports you already have into one private, source-linked health timeline, with an AI that answers from your own results.

How to read the report in front of you, keep years of them findable, and tell a real change from noise.

This is the Markdown version of https://doctano.com/guides/. The HTML page is the canonical version.

Forty-three guides, grouped by what you are trying to do: read the report in front of you, understand one result, prepare for the test and the appointment, keep years of records usable, or ask an AI a question without losing the source.

## Start with the report in front of you

- [How to read a lab report](https://doctano.com/guides/how-to-read-a-lab-report): Seven steps: the test, the value, the unit, the range, the flag, the date, and the trend.
- [Blood test abbreviations](https://doctano.com/guides/blood-test-abbreviations): CBC, LFT, MCV, P-LCR, globulin, and the calculated indices most lists skip.
- [Reference ranges](https://doctano.com/guides/reference-ranges): What the printed range is built from, why labs differ, and why normal is not optimal.
- [Blood test normal range chart](https://doctano.com/guides/blood-test-normal-range-chart): One cited adult table, and why the range on your report wins.
- [Lab report remarks](https://doctano.com/guides/lab-report-remarks): Hemolysis, lipemia, dilution, repeat tests, and the two dates.
- [Lab report units](https://doctano.com/guides/lab-report-units): mg/dL, mmol/L, mIU/L, and how to compare results that use different ones.
- [Full body checkup report](https://doctano.com/guides/full-body-checkup-report): What is inside an Indian full body checkup, and what to keep for next year.

## Understand a single result

- [Borderline results](https://doctano.com/guides/borderline-lab-results): What just outside the range means, and why one reading is weak evidence.
- [Abnormal results: what next](https://doctano.com/guides/abnormal-lab-results): A safe checklist from value to repeat, with no treatment advice.
- [Wrong blood test result](https://doctano.com/guides/incorrect-lab-results): How lab errors happen, how to spot one, and how to get a repeat.
- [Same test, different lab](https://doctano.com/guides/same-test-different-lab): Assay, method, unit, and calibration differences, and what counts as a trend.
- [What is my normal?](https://doctano.com/guides/personal-health-baseline): Why a personal baseline carries more than a population range.

## Prepare, photograph, and compare

- [Fasting before a blood test](https://doctano.com/guides/fasting-before-blood-test): Hours, water, per-test rules, and what breaks a fast.
- [Photograph a lab report](https://doctano.com/guides/photograph-lab-report): The phone-photo checklist for light, angle, shadow, and resolution.
- [Compare two lab reports](https://doctano.com/guides/compare-lab-reports): What to line up, what is not comparable, and how to read the difference.
- [Questions for your doctor](https://doctano.com/guides/prepare-for-doctor-visit): A one-page brief for a lab-result appointment.

## Make years of records usable

- [Track results over time](https://doctano.com/guides/track-lab-results-over-time): What to compare, what is noise, and how to keep the source report.
- [Organize your reports](https://doctano.com/guides/organize-lab-reports): Four systems, their failure modes, and a file naming scheme that survives.
- [Annual health checkup](https://doctano.com/guides/annual-health-checkup): What to keep each year, what not to repeat, and how to compare.
- [Get old lab reports](https://doctano.com/guides/get-old-lab-reports): Lab records desk, portal export, insurance, and the doctor file.
- [Family health records](https://doctano.com/guides/family-health-records): What to keep per person, and why one shared folder breaks.
- [Records for elderly parents](https://doctano.com/guides/lab-records-for-parents): Consent, separate profiles, and what to bring to appointments.
- [Lab reports for insurance](https://doctano.com/guides/lab-results-for-insurance-claims): What Indian health claims ask for, and how to keep the file ready.
- [What is a personal health record?](https://doctano.com/guides/personal-health-record): How a record store differs from a results timeline.

## Ask AI about your own results

- [Connect ChatGPT](https://doctano.com/guides/connect-chatgpt-to-doctano): The OAuth setup, the two scopes, and how to disconnect.
- [Connect another AI assistant](https://doctano.com/guides/connect-ai-assistant): What an MCP client needs, and which one is verified.
- [What is MCP?](https://doctano.com/guides/mcp-health-data): The protocol in plain language, and why health is the hard case.
- [Prompts for lab results](https://doctano.com/guides/ai-prompts-for-lab-results): Ten prompts that produce answers you can check.
- [Is AI accurate at reading reports?](https://doctano.com/guides/ai-lab-report-accuracy): What extraction reads well, where it fails, and what catches it.
- [AI and your doctor](https://doctano.com/guides/ai-vs-doctor): Which half of the job each one is actually good at.
- [Sharing health data with AI](https://doctano.com/guides/ai-health-privacy): What leaves the app, who receives it, and what you control.
- [Can ChatGPT read your lab report?](https://doctano.com/guides/chatgpt-lab-results): What a general assistant does well with one report, and what it misses across years.
- [Health context for AI](https://doctano.com/guides/health-context-for-ai): Why AI health answers stay generic without your own results.

## How it works, and what it does with your data

- [What happens to an upload](https://doctano.com/guides/what-happens-to-your-lab-reports): The path from a PDF to a value on a timeline.
- [How Doctano reads a report](https://doctano.com/guides/how-doctano-reads-a-report): Three lab names, one test, one LOINC code.
- [How the health score works](https://doctano.com/guides/health-score): The inputs, the weighting, and the three bands.
- [Is Doctano medical advice?](https://doctano.com/guides/is-doctano-medical-advice): What the labels and the score do and do not mean.
- [Is it safe to upload lab reports?](https://doctano.com/guides/is-it-safe-to-upload-lab-reports): The questions to ask any app before uploading, and Doctano's answers.
- [Health app privacy checklist](https://doctano.com/guides/health-app-privacy-checklist): Ten questions, and Doctano's answers to them.
- [Delete your health data](https://doctano.com/guides/delete-health-data): One report, or everything, and what each one removes.

## Choose a tool, and check the details

- [Lab reports in India](https://doctano.com/guides/lab-reports-india): Formats, units, panels, and India's DPDP Act.
- [How to choose a lab report tracker](https://doctano.com/guides/best-lab-report-tracker-apps): Nine questions that predict whether you will still use it in three years.
- [Doctano FAQ](https://doctano.com/guides/faq): Uploads, extraction, DoctanoAI, family profiles, privacy, and limits.

## Tests, panels, and tools

- [Lab tests](https://doctano.com/tests/): sixty-one pages on individual results, from HbA1c to NT-proBNP.
- [Lab panels](https://doctano.com/panels/): the panels that arrive together, explained as a group.
- [Tools](https://doctano.com/tools/): unit conversion, eGFR, LDL, HOMA-IR, and HbA1c calculators.

## Where to start

**Where should I start?**

If you have a report in front of you, start with How to read a lab report. If you have years of PDFs, start with Track results over time. If a result is flagged, start with the abnormal results checklist.

**Do I need an account to read the guides?**

No. Every guide is public. An account is only needed to upload a report to Doctano.

**Are the guides medical advice?**

No. They explain how reports are structured and what the terms mean. They do not diagnose or treat, and they do not replace a qualified professional.

## Links

- [Homepage](https://doctano.com/)
- [Lab report tracker](https://doctano.com/lab-report-tracker)
- [Pricing](https://doctano.com/pricing)
- [Privacy Policy](https://doctano.com/legal/privacy)