The method
Signal Score v1.1, the method.
One number from 0 to 100 that sums up how many of your results sit in range, from your own laboratory report, a small set of published guideline targets and your nurse's body measures. It is worked out by fixed code from your checked results: no model, no guess, no randomness. The same results always give the same score, and every contribution is stored so anyone can check it line by line.
It is not a diagnosis and not a prediction of any illness. A result outside its range is something to look at with your doctor, not a verdict.
How it is worked out
- Each scored result gets points: 1 in range (or in its target band), 0.5 just outside, 0 further outside. Against the laboratory's own range, "just outside" means within 10% of the limit that was crossed, and never more than a quarter of the range's width, so narrow ranges stay strict. Against a published target, the band edges are the guideline's own. A result reported as "under x" with x inside the range counts as in range.
- A group's score is the average of its points, times 100.
- The Signal Score is the weighted average of the groups that have at least one scored result, rounded.
| Group | Weight |
|---|---|
| Heart and blood fats | 1.5 |
| Blood sugar | 1.5 |
| Inflammation, liver, kidneys (salts and minerals), blood count, thyroid, iron and vitamins | 1.0 each |
| Hormones | 0.75 |
| Body measures (the nurse's) | 0.75 |
Published targets used instead of the laboratory range
For these results the bar on your report shows the laboratory range and, darker, the optimal zone below.
| Result | In range | Just outside | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| ApoB | under 1.0 g/L | 1.0 to 1.29 | ESC/EAS 2019 |
| LDL cholesterol | under 3.0 mmol/L | 3.0 to 4.0 | ESC/EAS 2019 |
| Non-HDL cholesterol | under 3.8 mmol/L | 3.8 to 4.8 | ESC/EAS 2019 |
| Total cholesterol | under 5.0 mmol/L | 5.0 to 6.1 | South African lipid guideline; NCEP ATP III |
| Triglycerides (fasting) | under 1.7 mmol/L | 1.7 to 2.2 | NCEP ATP III |
| Lp(a) | under 75 nmol/L | 75 to 125 | EAS consensus 2022 |
| Fasting glucose | 3.9 to 5.5 mmol/L | 5.6 to 6.9, or 3.5 to 3.8 | American Diabetes Association |
| HbA1c | under 5.7% | 5.7 to 6.4% | American Diabetes Association |
| hs-CRP | under 1.0 mg/L | 1.0 to 3.0 | AHA/CDC 2003 |
| Vitamin D | 50 to 250 nmol/L | 30 to 49, or 251 to 375 | Institute of Medicine 2011 |
| Urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio | under 3 mg/mmol | 3 to 30 | KDIGO 2024 |
| eGFR (calculated) | 60 or more | 45 to 59 | KDIGO 2024 |
| Blood pressure (average of two) | under 120/80, systolic 90 or more | under 140/90 | ESC 2024, ACC/AHA 2017 |
| Waist-to-height | 0.40 to 0.49 | 0.35 to 0.39, or 0.50 to 0.59 | NICE NG246 (2025) |
| Resting heart rate | 50 to 90 bpm | 40 to 49, or 91 to 100 | Common clinical reference |
Every other scored laboratory result uses the laboratory's own reference range as printed on the report.
Shown, not scored
- FSH and oestradiol, which move with the cycle and menopause stage, and urine creatinine, an input to the ratio above.
- Calculated values other than LDL, non-HDL, eGFR and the urine ratio. They are shown, labelled "calculated", with the formula they come from.
- Weight, height, BMI and grip strength. What matters most for grip is the change between visits.
- A result the laboratory marked "not done" or "to follow".
- hs-CRP above 10 mg/L: that level usually reflects a passing infection or injury rather than your baseline, so it is shown, not scored, and the doctor decides whether to repeat it.
Calculated values
Worked out from your laboratory results with standard formulas, at no extra cost: LDL (Friedewald, only when the laboratory did not report LDL and triglycerides are under 4.5 mmol/L), non-HDL, total cholesterol to HDL, triglyceride to HDL, HOMA-IR, estimated average glucose, eGFR (CKD-EPI 2021, without race), the urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio, anion gap, globulin, albumin to globulin, AST to ALT, FIB-4, neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio, corrected calcium and calculated free testosterone (Vermeulen 1999).
Biological Age
Shown beside your Signal Score. It uses PhenoAge, a published formula (Levine and colleagues, Aging, 2018). Nine routine blood results and your age go in: albumin, creatinine, fasting glucose, hs-CRP, the share of lymphocytes in your white cells, MCV, RDW, ALP and the white cell count. With fixed coefficients they give the age at which the average person has the same blood picture.
Both numbers come from the same blood results. Your Signal Score counts how many of your numbers sit in range. Your Biological Age weighs nine of them the way they track with ageing, and says it in years. Your report says in one sentence how the two agree or differ.
It is not shown when one of the nine results is missing, when hs-CRP is above 10 mg/L (a passing infection pushes it up), or when you are under 20 or over 90. It is an estimate from one blood sample, not a diagnosis, and it moves with the same things your plan works on.
Changing the method
Any change to a band, a weight or what is scored gets a new version number here and in the code. Your report always shows the version it was scored with, and every report is read and approved by your Signal doctor before you see it.