Understanding Lab Results

Labs provide you and your doctor with valuable information about your overall health and your kidney function. It is important to understand the labs that your doctor requests, track your results, and know when specific labs are or are not within the normal range.
Learning Objective(s):
Review the basics of a lab report
Understand the complete blood count
Understand kidney function labs
Review of other lab studies that your doctor might order
Presented by Terry Watnick, M.D., the Joan B. and John H. Sadler Professor of Nephrology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. She received her medical degree from the Yale School of Medicine and completed internal medicine training at Yale-New Haven Hospital. Dr. Watnick moved to the Johns Hopkins Hospital where she received clinical and research training in Nephrology. Dr. Watnick has a laboratory that focuses on understanding the factors that cause aneurysms in ADPKD. In addition, she has been an investigator in several multicenter clinical trials recruiting patients with ADPKD, including TEMPO, REPRISE, and TAME. Dr. Watnick is the Principal Investigator of the NIH funded Maryland Polycystic Kidney Disease Research and Translation Core Center. She is also the PI of the Central Coordinating Site for the Polycystic Kidney Disease Research and Translation Core Centers. Dr. Watnick previously served as the Chair of the PKD Foundation Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) and was a member of the Board of Trustees.