welcome back to the channel where
medical topics are made easy
this video is going to show you an easy
way to remember all the normal ranges of
common labs
before we get started make sure to turn
on the caption real quick and read along
this will help you better learn and
remember everything let's begin with the
basic metabolic panel which primarily
measures basic electrolytes
renal function and glucose starting with
sodium
you're going to use the letters od in
the word sodium to remember odd numbers
you're going to use the first three odd
numbers which are 1 3 and 5
and this will give you 135 135 is in the
normal range for sodium
and you can simply add 10 which will
give you the normal range of 135 to 145.
remember as we walk through each of
these lab values the normal range may
vary depending on the lab
and your location next we have potassium
when you think of potassium think of
bananas there are usually three to five
bananas in a bunch
and you want to buy them half off if you
can this will help you remember the
normal range of potassium is 3.5 to 5.
as we said before the basic metabolic
panel also assesses renal function
which includes a bun and creatinine
starting with the bun
you can use the word bun to help you
remember bunion bunions are typically
located on the toes or digits
and we have five digits per extremity
with a total of 20 digits
this will help you remember the normal
range for bun is 5 to 20.
next we have creatinine which also looks
at renal function you can use the word
nine and creatinine to remember 0.9
which is right in the middle of the
normal range a normal range for
creatinine is about 0.6 to 1.2
next we have glucose when you think of
glucose think of energy
and our energy starts to decline during
our elderly years especially when we're
70 to 100 years old
this will help you remember the normal
range for glucose is 70 to 100.
moving on to calcium when you think of
calcium think of milk
a gallon of milk actually weighs about
8.5 pounds
and then think of 2 percent milk to add
2 to that
this will give you the normal range for
calcium of 8.5 to 10.5
next is chloride when you think of
chloride think of chlorine
and a hot tub the average temperature of
a hot tub is 95 to 105 degrees
fahrenheit
which will help you remember the normal
range of 95 to 105.
finally we have bicarbonate when you
think of bicarbonate think of
carbonation
and soda soda is usually sold in a
12-pack
but it's not just carbonate it's
bicarbonate and by means two
so we're going to multiply the 12 by 2.
this gives us
24 with the normal range of about 23 to
29
let's recap quick and then we'll move on
to the next set of labs
for sodium remember odd numbers 1 3 and
5
to help you remember 135 with the normal
range of 135 to 145
for potassium remember bananas there are
usually three to five bananas in a bunch
and you want to buy them half off this
will help you remember 3.5 to 5.
for bun remember bunion there are five
digits per limb with a total of 20
digits
to help you remember 5 to 20. for
creatinine
use the 9 to remember 0.9 which is right
in the middle of the normal range of 0.6
to 1.2 for glucose remember energy
and that our energy decreases when we're
70 to 100 years old
this will help you remember 70 to 100
for calcium think of milk a gallon of
milk weighs eight and a half pounds
plus two percent milk to remember 8.5 to
10.5
for chloride remember chlorine in hot
tubs with an average temperature of 95
to 105 degrees fahrenheit
this will help you remember 95 to 105.
finally for bicarbonate remember
carbonation in a 12 pack of soda times 2
since it's bicarbonate
and this will help you remember 24. so
basically if you memorize the word
associations you'll start to memorize
the normal lab values
so always associate sodium with odd
numbers
potassium bananas bun bunion
creatinine 9 glucose energy
calcium milk chloride hot tub
bicarbonate carbonation or soda
there's also a comprehensive metabolic
panel which mainly includes liver
function tests
in addition to everything in the basic
metabolic panel there may also be a
couple other electrolytes depending on
the lab
two of the main liver tests are ast and
alt
and the way you can differentiate these
is with the s and
l starting with ast you can use the s to
remember school
an average school day is from 9 am to 4
pm
and this will help you remember the
normal range for ast is about 9 to 40.
another way to think of ast is to use
the 9am start time for school
and then an average school week is about
40 hours when you factor in homework
this can also be used to remember the
normal range of about 9 to forty
you can do the same thing with alt you
can use the l to remember labor or work
an average work day is longer than a
school day it may start at seven am
and end around six pm this will help you
remember the normal range for alt is
about seven to sixty
or you can use the seven am start time
for work and a sixty hour work week to
remember seven to sixty
remember these normal ranges may vary
slightly depending on the lab
and if you're taking a medical exam the
abnormal values that they give you in a
question are usually drastically
abnormal
so just try to remember the general
ranges
next we have alkaline phosphatase this
can also be used to measure liver
function as it can be elevated in
hepatobiliary diseases
as well as different bone diseases when
you think of phosphatase think of
phosphate
you can use the 8 and phosphate to
remember 80
which is right in the middle of the
normal range the normal range is about
40 to 120
next we have bilirubin which again can
be used with other liver function
tests and you can use the ruben and
bilirubin to remember a reuben sandwich
when you order a reuben sandwich at a
restaurant you usually get one sandwich
and this will help you remember a normal
value of less than one
finally we have albumin which is a
protein produced by the liver
so when you think of albumin think of
protein or protein shake
which usually includes three to five
ingredients if you're making a homemade
one
this will help you remember the normal
range is about 3.4 to 5.4
so to recap the comprehensive metabolic
panel quick and then we'll move on to
the next one
you're going to use the s and ast to
think of school which will help you
remember 9 am to 4 pm
and the normal range of 9 to 40. for alt
you're going to use the l to think of
labor or work
which will help you remember 7 am to 6
pm in the normal range of 7
to 60. for alkaline phosphatase
think of phosphate and the ending 8 to
remember 80
which is right in the middle of the
normal range of 40 to 120
for bilirubin think of a reuben sandwich
to remember less than one
finally for albumin think of protein and
a protein shake
to remember three to five ingredients
and the normal range of 3.4 to 5.4
so the word associations you want to
memorize here are ast and school
alt and labor alp and phosphate
bilirubin and rubin albumin and protein
shake
if you remember these then the normal
lab values will come to you
next we have a complete blood count or
cbc this generally tells you your white
blood cell count
red blood cell count hemoglobin and
hematocrit and platelet count
along with other differential
information starting with the white
blood cell count you can use the wbc to
remember want to buy a car for five
thousand to ten thousand dollars
this will help you remember the normal
range is about five thousand to ten
thousand
next we have the red blood cell count
when you think of red blood cells
think of blood and the adult human body
has about 4.5 to 5.5 liters of blood
and this fits perfectly with the normal
range for red blood cells
which is about 4.5 to 5.5
moving on to hemoglobin when you think
of hemoglobin think of oxygen
as hemoglobin carries or transfers
oxygen the average adult takes about 12
to 18 breaths per minute at rest
this will help you remember the normal
range of 12 to 18.
for females a normal hemoglobin is about
12 to 16
and for males it's about 14 to 18.
then we have hematocrit when you think
of hematocrit think of hematocrisis and
a midlife crisis
which typically occurs between 40 and 50
years old
this will help you remember a normal
range of about 37 to 50 percent the
normal range for a female is about 37 to
47 percent
and the normal range for a male is about
42 to 50 percent
finally we have the platelet count when
you think of platelets think of the word
plate
find china plate sets may cost anywhere
from 150 to 400
on average this will help you remember a
normal range of about 150
000 to 400 000 so the word associations
you want to remember here
are wbc and wanna buy a car red blood
cell
and blood hemoglobin and oxygen
hematocrit and hematocrisis
and platelets and china plates
let's move on to the normal values of an
arterial blood gas or an abg an abg
provides information on a patient's
acid-base status
starting with the ph we know the body
likes to be in homeostasis which would
put the ph at around 7.
now how can you remember that at
specifically 7.4 with a range of 7.35 to
7.45
well you can use the ph to spell the
word for with the ph instead of an f
and this will help you remember 7.4 next
we have the pco2
all you're going to do is use the
numbers after the decimal and the ph
and this will give you 35 to 45.
finally we have bicarbonate which we
talked about in the basic metabolic
panel
remember we're going to use carbonation
and a 12 pack of soda
multiplied by two since it's bicarbonate
and this will give us the normal abg
range of about 22 to 26.
so the word associations to remember
here are ph and 7.4
spelled with a ph pco2 and the numbers
after the ph decimals
and bicarb and carbonation or soda times
two
let's wrap this up with coagulation
studies which tells us information about
the blood's ability to clot
and how long it takes to clot starting
with the inr
you can use the i to remember the number
1 and the normal range for inr is less
than 1.
next is the pt and ptt you're going to
use the ts to help you remember the
normal values
beginning with the pt you can use the
single t to stand for 10
which will help you remember the normal
range of 10 to 12 seconds
for ptt you can use the double t to
remember 10 plus 20 or 30
which will give you the normal range of
30 to 40 seconds when you add them up
so the word associations here are inr
and 1
pt and 10 and ptt and 10 plus 20 or 30.
hopefully these tricks will help you
remember the normal ranges of common
labs
if you found them useful please hit the
like button and if you have any other
tricks that you use to remember
different labs
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