Best,
Amelia

I look forward to using Inside Tracker.

You make my point for me – “The problem is that we don’t have the information on normal.” Without this information, I don’t see how modulating “normal” can be the basis of a good consumer business model.

Joe

I think it is great that you are trying to empower individuals to think about this information, I just don’t buy into the idea that optimizing the levels of these biomarkers is going to be helpful (and/or motivating) to the general public (which is what you’re going to need to do to generate sustaining revenue – at least based on your current pricing model). Too many of the biomarkers are meaningless for one-off measurements (glucose for example) which leads me to believe that in order to really have an impact, you’re going to have to have long term buy-in and blood draws more than a couple of times a year which I don’t think most people are willing to accept (particularly if insurance doesn’t cover it).

Sure, I can believe that there are elite athletes out there who do want to track this information and for whom optimizing these levels might be beneficial, and maybe that is your market, but I think there is a big leap here between the average RunKeeper user like myself (and I have no fear of blood draws) and your target user.

I would be very curious to know more about the clinical trials which define better optimal ranges and am curious how much of an impact being in those ranges actually has on people as opposed to being in the more generic normal range.

I’d also be interested to know how many average athletes are actually deficient in the biomarkers you’ve listed. I realize vitamin D deficiency is on the rise due to sunscreen usage and vitamin B12 deficiency goes underdiagnosed, but from my understanding, they are both still pretty rare.

Perhaps you should be looking at other biomarkers which show longer term effects like Hemoglobin A1C as a surrogate for glucose. You might also consider looking at CK levels as a surrogate screening method for thyroid disease which is something that could when treated could make a more immediate impact.

Best of luck,
Joe

In addition, the lab results that doctors review typically define ‘normal’ ranges that are very generic in nature – they are the same for everybody (independent of your age, gender, ethnicity, athletic activity, etc.). This works in the context that doctors are trying to make sure you are ‘not sick’. We are trying to provide information to help you achieve better health. We have been able to identify hundreds of peer reviewed clinical trial studies that help to identify much more targeted ‘optimal’ ranges based on demographics and lifestyle. As examples: optimal vitamin B12 ranges are different with age; ferritin targets vary if you are an active runner; CK (marker of over exercise) range depends on your athletic activity….

With regard to the quality of the test, we require a 12 hour fasting blood test for all of the lab analysis we do in order to make sure that the information is as reliable as possible. While there may be some natural variability in the data we think it is still quite actionable, and the best available – certainly better than no data at all. Furthermore, most of the markers we use in InsideTracker have a half life of weeks which further increases the reliability of their values.