How to track your blood test results over time
Why the trend across years says more than one result, and a simple way to keep every report organised — for you and your family.
Most of us see our blood test results one report at a time: a PDF in a patient portal, a printout in a drawer, a number mentioned during an appointment. Each one is a snapshot. Put the snapshots side by side over months and years, though, and they start to tell a story that no single report can.
Why the trend matters more than one result
- Your own baseline. Reference ranges describe a large population. Your results over time show what's typical for you — which can be very useful context in a conversation with your health professional.
- Gradual changes become visible. A value that drifts slowly over several years can stay "in range" on every individual report. On a chart, the direction is obvious.
- One-off results stand out. Results naturally vary from draw to draw. With a history, a single unusual value is easier to see as the exception it may be.
- Context. Next to a timeline of life events — a new medication, a diet change, an illness — results become easier to talk about.
What to record from each report
To make results comparable later, keep these together for every test:
- The collection date — when the blood was drawn, not when the report was printed.
- The value and its unit. The unit matters: the same result can be written very differently in mmol/L and mg/dL. (See our guide to lab units.)
- The reference range from that report, since ranges vary between labs.
- Notes — fasting or not, the lab's name, anything unusual that day.
Ways to keep track
Paper or PDF folders are simple, but comparing results across years means opening every report.
A spreadsheet works well if you're comfortable with one: a row per date, a column per test. It takes discipline to keep units consistent, and charts need some setting up. Keep in mind where the file is stored and who can access it.
Your lab's patient portal is convenient, but usually only shows that one lab's results, and access can change if you move or switch providers.
A dedicated tracker brings results from any lab together, charts them, and keeps units consistent. Before choosing one, check what the company itself can see: health data is about as personal as data gets. Our guide Why your health records should be end-to-end encrypted lists five questions worth asking.
A simple routine that works
- Ask for, or download, a copy of every report — ideally as a PDF.
- Add it to your records the same week, while you still remember the details.
- Note anything relevant that happened around that time.
- Before your next appointment, look at your trends and write down your questions.
Keeping records for your family
Many people also keep track for a partner, a parent or a child. Keep each person's results clearly separate, and agree on who has access — especially for adult family members, whose results are theirs to share.
How SECURECORDS does it
SECURECORDS was built for exactly this. Log a whole report in one go — or import your lab's PDF, which is read on your device and checked by you before anything is saved. Every marker gets a trend chart, averages over any period, side-by-side comparisons of lab visits, and life events shown right on the charts. The Pro plan keeps separate profiles for up to five people.
All of it is end-to-end encrypted: your results are locked on your device before they're saved, so we can't read them. You can try the live demo without signing up.