The Vane Baseline Panel, Itemized: What $79 Actually Gets You

The Vane Baseline panel is the lab draw we put every new patient through before any protocol is written. It is $79. It includes the markers we have argued for across the rest of the Insights archive. It is the same panel a private internist would order if the patient asked for everything that matters and nothing that does not.

This is what is on it, why each marker earned its spot, and what we do with the numbers.

What the panel covers

Twenty-two markers across five domains: cardiovascular, metabolic, hormonal, inflammatory, and organ baseline. One draw, fasting, takes about fifteen minutes at the lab. Results in 48 to 72 hours.

We deliberately did not build the largest panel on the market. We built the smallest panel that lets a clinician write a protocol with confidence. Every marker is there because it changes a decision.

The cardiovascular block

The cardiovascular block is where we spend the most interpretive time, because it is where most men over 35 carry the most under-managed risk.

• Total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides. The conventional lipid panel, included as context.
• ApoB. The atherogenic particle count. The cardiovascular number we manage most aggressively. Covered in ApoB: the lipid number.
• Lp(a). The inherited cardiovascular risk number, measured once. Covered in the Lp(a) piece.
• hsCRP. Chronic inflammation marker that independently predicts cardiovascular events.

A clinician reads the cardiovascular block as a system, not as four separate numbers. ApoB drives the protocol. Lp(a) sets how aggressively. hsCRP and the conventional lipids fill in the texture.

The metabolic block

Six markers that together describe insulin sensitivity, glucose handling, and metabolic reserve.

• Fasting glucose. Baseline glucose under conditions of metabolic rest.
• Fasting insulin. The earliest signal of insulin resistance, often years ahead of HbA1c. The marker most consistently missed by standard primary care.
• HbA1c. Three-month glucose average.
• HOMA-IR. Calculated insulin resistance score from fasting glucose and insulin.
• Liver enzymes (AST, ALT, GGT). Liver health and a proxy for fatty liver disease, which is now the most common cause of liver disease in men.
• Uric acid. Underrated metabolic marker, elevated in insulin resistance and a clean signal in men who present without obvious metabolic disease.

The hormonal block

Three markers that together describe androgen status.

• Total testosterone. The standard headline number.
• Free testosterone (calculated or measured). The biologically active fraction.
• Sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG). The protein that binds testosterone in circulation, and the reason total T and free T diverge.

A clinician needs all three to interpret androgen status. A total testosterone of 600 with an SHBG of 65 nmol/L is a very different physiology than the same total testosterone with an SHBG of 25. We do not write a testosterone protocol from a single number, and the panel reflects that.

The thyroid block

• TSH. The pituitary signal to the thyroid.
• Free T4. The active thyroid hormone the gland is producing.

We add free T3 and antibodies when TSH or T4 are abnormal, or when symptoms warrant it. The two-marker thyroid baseline catches the meaningful fraction of subclinical thyroid disease in men over 40.

The micronutrient block

• Vitamin D (25-OH). Low levels are nearly universal in indoor-working adults at temperate latitudes. Fixing it is cheap and meaningful.
• Ferritin. Iron storage and inflammation indicator. Doubles as a hemochromatosis screen.
• Vitamin B12. Cognitive, hematologic, and cardiovascular signal. Levels under 400 pg/mL are functionally low even when "in range."

The organ baseline

• Comprehensive metabolic panel. Kidney function (creatinine, eGFR), electrolytes, liver function, glucose.
• CBC with differential. Red cell, white cell, and platelet counts. Anemia, infection, and hematologic disease screen.

These rarely change management on their own. They are the safety net. When they catch something, it is almost always something the rest of the panel would not have flagged.

What a Vane clinician does with the results

The panel without interpretation is a stack of paper. The workflow:

1. Read the panel against age-appropriate optimal ranges, not just lab "normal." Lab normals include the unwell.
2. Identify the dominant driver. Most men have one marker or one cluster that explains most of the picture. The protocol leads with that.
3. Cross-check the hormonal and metabolic data. Low free testosterone with high SHBG and elevated fasting insulin is a different protocol than low free testosterone in isolation.
4. Write a protocol that addresses two or three things, not nine. Doing fewer things well beats doing many things partially.
5. Plan the rerun. Most markers move on a 12-week timeline. The follow-up panel is when the protocol is judged.

The patient gets the lab PDF, a written interpretation from their clinician, and a video walkthrough of the numbers in plain language. Not a "scorecard." A document that says: here is what your physiology is doing, here is what we change, here is what we expect to see next quarter.

Why $79

The marker list is wider than a standard physical and narrower than the maximalist direct-to-consumer panels that run $400 to $700. We negotiated with our lab partner to keep the price near the marginal cost of the draw because the panel is the front door to the rest of the protocol. The economics work when the panel leads to long-term care, not when it is the only thing we sell.

The fee is for the markers. The interpretation by a Vane clinician is included.

The bottom line

If you have never had a panel like this run, the Vane Baseline is the cheapest high-leverage thing you can do for your next decade of health. If you have had a complete panel run elsewhere recently, upload it and we will interpret it without re-drawing.

Either way, the goal is the same: a clear, current read of where your physiology is, and a clinician who knows what to do with the answer.