> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getbased.health/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Understand your Biology Scores

> Read 18 marker-based scores, understand Biological Coherence, and plan useful next checks without losing sight of cost or context.

Biology Scores group related lab results into **18 deterministic pattern scores**, plus the **Biological Coherence** overview. They help you explore how your markers fit together, what is missing, and what to check next.

The number comes from your markers and selected ranges. Optional AI explains the pattern; it does not set the score. These are wellness and learning tools, including some exploratory patterns, rather than validated diagnostic or risk calculators.

## Start here

Open **Insight → Biology Scores**. Choose a date window and reference or optimal ranges, then:

1. Read **Biological Coherence** and its **Overview contributors** to see what is included.
2. Review the baseline cards that need attention. Open **Details** for the markers and explanation.
3. Check **Suggested next checks** and **Plan additional labs** for useful gaps.
4. Expand **Profile & collection context** when a result needs more context.

The page separates **Baseline scores**, **Advanced scores**, and scores that need markers or context. Within the scored groups, current results needing attention come first, followed by stronger current patterns and historical estimates. This is a reading order, not medical triage.

Individual dashboard widgets open the relevant score. The overview widget uses the same result and contributor rules as the full page.

## What the number means

A higher score means closer agreement with the selected ranges. It does not mean a system works at that percentage, or that your future disease risk is that percentage.

| What you see | How to read it |
| - | - |
| Score out of 100 | Agreement of the usable **core markers** with the selected ranges. |
| Core coverage | How many core requirements are met; alternative assays can satisfy one requirement. |
| Additional markers | Supporting, conflicting, or different information. They do not change the headline score. |
| Color and attention message | A low fit, incomplete panel, or conflicting result may deserve attention even when the average looks favorable. |
| Historical score / mixed-date estimate | A usable older pattern, clearly separated from a current panel. |
| Needs markers or context | Not enough interpretable core evidence to produce a number. This is not a zero. |

**Core first, additional when useful:** you do not need every optional test to get a useful score. Additional tests can clarify an uncertainty without making an affordable baseline panel look incomplete simply because specialty testing is absent.

Related measurements share a weight budget. For example, glucose, insulin and HOMA-IR are related evidence; adding a derived ratio does not give that pathway an independent extra vote. Open **How this score works** and the marker tables to see the composition and contribution of the available inputs.

Changing the range mode can change the deterministic score. Reference-range agreement and agreement with a tighter optimal target answer different questions.

## Biological Coherence

**13 baseline scores form 12 domains.** Iron Handling and Blood Flow Context share the blood domain; they are not counted as two independent systems. The five advanced scores stay outside this overview.

The overview combines available domain scores with fixed domain weights. Coverage is reported separately. It needs at least **three domains and 25% core coverage** before displaying an overall number; these are product rules for a useful overview, not clinical validation thresholds.

Use **Overview contributors** to see each baseline score and its status. The cards below carry matching labels, such as **In overview**, **Excluded · Older results**, or **Excluded · Mixed dates**. An advanced card says **Optional · Outside overview**.

When there are no current domains but enough older evidence exists, a historical overview can be shown with its dates. Unscorable evidence is not presented as a numeric contribution. A missing or historical overview does not erase the individual results below it.

## Baseline score reference

The table describes the main core evidence. A score may require a particular combination before a number is meaningful; **Details** shows the requirements for your profile and selected dates.

| Score | Main core evidence | What it helps you explore |
| - | - | - |
| Metabolic Flexibility | Fasting glucose, insulin, HOMA-IR and TG/HDL ratio | Fasting glucose–insulin regulation; not directly measured fuel switching. |
| Thyroid Coherence | TSH and Free T4, equally weighted | Thyroid hormone pattern; Free T3 and antibodies add context. The FT3/FT4 ratio is descriptive. |
| Cardiovascular Risk | ApoB | Atherogenic particle pattern; this is not a cardiovascular event-risk percentage. Lipids, Lp(a), non-HDL and related ratios add context. |
| Inflammatory Load | CRP or hs-CRP | An inflammatory marker pattern. These are distinct assays that can satisfy one core requirement; ordinary CRP has different sensitivity. GGT is additional context. |
| Blood Flow Context | Hematocrit, hemoglobin and platelets | Blood-cell concentration and related context; not measured viscosity or clot risk. D-dimer does not contribute points. |
| Iron Handling | Ferritin, transferrin saturation and hemoglobin | Storage, transport and red-cell context; a normal blood count alone does not establish adequate stores. |
| Methylation | Homocysteine, active or total B12, and folate | One-carbon nutrient context; not measured methylation throughput. |
| Kidney & Filtration | An interpretable eGFR, sodium and potassium | Filtration and electrolyte context. With all core inputs, filtration receives 70% of the core weight and the electrolytes 15% each. UACR adds kidney-damage context. |
| Liver & Bile Flow | ALT, AST, GGT and ALP | Liver-enzyme and biliary patterns; not a detox-capacity measurement. |
| Bone & Mineral Balance | Vitamin D, calcium and phosphorus | Mineral regulation. Total calcium needs albumin context; ionized calcium provides another route. PTH adds context. |
| Immune Cell Balance | WBC, neutrophils and lymphocytes | Blood-cell patterns; not a direct measure of immune competence. |
| Hormone Axis | Profile-appropriate sex hormones and pituitary signals, including LH/FSH | Endocrine feedback context, interpreted with sex, age, collection, cycle and therapy information. |
| Recovery Context | Profile-appropriate sex hormones, albumin and total protein | Hormone and protein context. It is not a daily readiness, athletic performance or muscle-building score. |

**Kidney & Filtration** replaces the old Kidney & Hydration name. A separate hydration score is not included.

## Advanced score reference

“Advanced” describes the narrower question, specialty inputs or more exploratory interpretation. It does not mean a result is unimportant. These cards can be useful without being part of the baseline overview.

| Score | Required starting evidence | Boundary |
| - | - | - |
| Lipid Membrane | A reported Omega-3 Index | Fatty-acid context; an arbitrary EPA + DHA sum is not automatically an RBC Omega-3 Index. |
| Stress Hormone Context | Timed cortisol and DHEA-S | Collection-time hormone pattern; not psychological resilience, a daily rhythm or adrenal reserve. |
| Cellular Energy | Same-draw urine lactate/pyruvate, or a same-draw blood lactate/pyruvate route | Exploratory assay-specific patterns; not measured mitochondrial efficiency. Blood and urine stay separate. |
| Gut–Immune Signal | Stool calprotectin, or same-draw urine arabinose and HPHPA | Separate stool-inflammation and exploratory metabolite routes; not a microbiome, permeability or organism-identification test. |
| Nerve–Muscle Signal | CK plus B12 or homocysteine evidence | Indirect muscle and nutrient context; not measured nerve function. |

Recovery Context and Stress Hormone Context replace the broader **Recovery Capacity** and **Stress Resilience** labels. They remain available with clearer boundaries. Cellular Energy and Gut–Immune Signal require evidence from their own route, so ordinary blood markers alone cannot create those scores.

## Dates and profile context

The app flags core inputs older than **180 days** or collected more than **90 days** apart. Older values can remain visible as historical evidence without being counted as a current panel. Some panels need a tighter relationship: fasting glucose/insulin/HOMA-IR and paired energy or microbial-metabolite routes need the same collection.

**Profile & collection context** helps explain why a marker is used, limited or shown only as context. Examples in the app include:

* low muscle mass limiting creatinine-based filtration estimates, with cystatin-based routes considered separately;
* collection time and specimen requirements for cortisol;
* cycle, menopause, contraception and therapy context for relevant hormones;
* recent hard training affecting CK;
* uncertain fasting status limiting a metabolic interpretation.

Female-specific controls are shown for female profiles. Context suggestions require your review before being applied. You can read deterministic scores without first running an AI context check.

## AI insights and refresh

When a supported AI connection and the relevant approvals are available, the page can assess missing insights automatically in a shared pass. Large requests are split into bounded batches; this is not a promise of exactly one model call.

Each card receives two separately written outputs:

* a short, complete summary, usually two or three sentences and no more than 280 characters;
* a fuller explanation in **Details**, organized into **Main signal**, **Context**, and **Next check**.

The summary is not a clipped extract. The health dot and loading state show when processing is underway, and cards align within each row without reserving unnecessary fixed space.

**Refresh** on one score updates that score. Refreshing **Biological Coherence** requests the shared set. Explicit refresh makes a new AI request and may incur your provider's normal cost.

Saved insights survive page reloads and travel with supported profile exports, backups and encrypted Sync. A comparison-aware assessment covers the standard **3M, 6M, 1Y and All** windows and **reference/optimal** views, so switching among those views reuses the interpretation when its evidence still matches. The numeric scores still recalculate locally.

New marker values, relevant context, ranges or scoring rules can make an insight stale. The app keeps the previous explanation visible with **refresh needed** rather than pretending it describes the new evidence. Older saved single-view answers may need one explicit refresh to gain comparison coverage.

If a CLI gateway reports that explanations are unsupported, update Companion in **Settings → AI**, refresh discovery, and check the selected route's capabilities. Model and gateway support varies. A connected chat route alone does not guarantee every background or image feature.

## Plan useful next checks

**Suggested next checks** highlights missing context, incomplete core panels and timing issues. **Plan additional labs** groups baseline gaps and optional depth, including shared markers that can help several scores.

Start with missing core requirements, then ask whether an additional test resolves a specific uncertainty. The planner does not recommend specialized markers such as D-dimer, reverse T3, zonulin or NfL simply to complete a wellness panel. Derived ratios are identified so you can check their source tests rather than treating every ratio as a separate order.

Use the planner's chat action for a personalized explanation of the gaps. Review the proposed tests, cost and laboratory availability yourself before ordering.

For the formulas, domain weights and persistence contract, see [Biology Scores internals](/developers/biology-scores).


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