When your doctor orders a CMP or BMP, he is ordering tests that determine the function and health of the organs in your body. These are called chemistry tests. CMP is Comprehensive Metabolic Panel, and BMP is Basic Metabolic Panel. The difference between the two panels is the number of tests run on your specimen. Both panels include electrolytes, which are sodium, potassium, chloride, and carbon dioxide levels. These 4 compounds must be optimized in your blood to maintain the correct balance of positive and negative ions. This affects many areas of your health, such as being too acidic or too alkaline in your organs and fluids. There is a complex balance called metabolic and respiratory acidosis and alkalosis that your physician can determine from measuring your blood chemistries. As you are probably aware, electrolyte balance is very important to your body’s hydration, especially after intense physical activity and loss of fluids through sweating. Other chemistries included in the BMP are calcium, blood urea nitrogen, and creatinine. Most people understand the necessity for calcium, but the other two chemistries reflect kidney function. What you must also realize is that just because a value is outside of the “normal” range, it does not necessarily mean that you have a problem. “Normal” ranges are established using certain criteria, and if you are slightly outside of “normal” it might be right for you. I have found that the measured creatinine level is often a little higher than “normal” due to the method of analysis. Then other values are calculated from the lab results and might be slightly skewed due to a variety of factors. The point is that your lab results must all be taken on a personal level, and only your physician can determine that.
