I teach doctors how to interpret test results – and the labels ‘normal’ and ‘abnormal’ often hide what matters most

Labeling medical test results as ‘normal’ or ‘abnormal’ helps clinicians make quick judgments when diagnosing patients. But this binary approach to interpreting tests can lead to fatal errors.

By: Amiran Baduashvili, University of Colorado Anschutz, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: October 12, 2026

Words: 1,597

Last Updated: 5 days, 14 hours ago

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By Amiran Baduashvili, University of Colorado Anschutz

Mr. V felt tightness across his chest. His deepest breaths felt shallow. He sought help at an emergency department, where a resident physician found several worrying signs, including swelling of his hands and legs as well as heart enlargement on a chest X-ray.

Everything seemed to point to one diagnosis: heart failure, where the heart’s inability to pump blood efficiently causes fluid to build up in the …

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