Thank you longschi and niner - all great points!
I did suggest to her to increase her Mg intake as her latest bloodwork (posted below) showed lowish levels.
I suspect the iron level is elevated as well for the reasons niner stated (would you please confirm/correct my assumption in the panel below?). I will have her discontinue using the regular women's multi if that's the case.
I asked about vitamin D test already but they were not ordered - told her to ask her doc next time. My rationale for the increased vit D intake is her nightshift work (reduced sun exposure during the day) and the current winter season.
I think she will handle the niacin flush knowing the benefit is worth it.
Just checked - the selenium in the multi is only 55mcg. I found it to be on the low end.
As to ALA effect on her blood glucose level - she hasn't reported any issues and she has been on this stack for >1yr (1000 IU D3 once every other day during.the summer as "just-in-case" measure)
In terms of diet - mostly plant-based, with the occasional meat/fish meal once in a while.
Exercise consists mostly of walking around town daily (she does not drive and most places she goes to are walking distance with the occasional city (mass transit) bus).
And here are her last blood panel results in SI units after being on this regimen for ~1yr (the ones in bold, I think, need attention).
Please point out any that look out of whack to you.
Test | Result | Reference range
NA 138 135-145
K 3.9 3.5-5.1
CL 101 98-110
CA 2.3 2.1-2.6
MG
0.77 0.70-1.15 (within range though on the low end)
GLU 5.2 3.9-5.8
ALP 75 53-141
ALT 16 1-34
TOTAL BIL 10.5 3.4-17
AST 13 1-31
AMY-7 51 28-100
BIL DIRECT
1.5 1.7-3.4 (too low?)
BUN 4.3 2.4-6.5
CHOL
5.96 1-5
C-RP
1.4 0-7.5 (my understanding is that ideally C-RP should be below 1)
CR-S 58 53-115
FER
18.7 5-30.4 (am I correct in reading this as ferritin 187 out of 304 in conventional units?)
HDL 2.7 1.2-5
LD-P 431 266-500
LDL-CHOL (<3)
3.61 >3
VLDL 0.28
TG 0.62 0-1.70
TP 69 60-83
OSMOLALITES 275.2
Indir bilI 0.5
BUN/CREA RATIO 18.4
URIC 195 155-428
CA++ 1.2
INDIR bil 9
WBC 4.51 3.5-10.5
neo 2.23 49.40% 1.60-7.2 39-75%
lym 1.75 38.90% 0.9-3 16-48%
MONO 0.419 9.29% 0.2-0.8 2-13%
EOS 0.3 0.66% 0-0.5 0-8%
BASO 0.078 1.73% 0-1 0-2%
RBC 4.57 4.2-5.4
HEMOGLOBIN 142 120-160
HEMATOCRIT 0.426 0.37-0.47
MCV 93.2 82-96
MCH 31.2 28-33
MCHC 335 320-360
RDW
14 11.5-13.7 (too high?)
PLT 253 130-360
MPV 9.91 7.8-11
Edited by aribadabar, 10 February 2014 - 06:22 AM.