Overview of Taking My Health Into My Own Hands: Tests, Records, and What Actually Worked
Chris Hutchins shares the health wake-up call that came from decades of being told his high cholesterol was “fine,” despite never really being treated for it. After a borderline-frustrating childhood-to-adulthood history of dismissed labs, a shingles episode, and a revealing conversation with a more proactive doctor, he began building a more intentional health system: targeted testing, better records, insurance appeals, and AI-assisted analysis of his own data. The episode is both a personal story and a practical framework for how to think about preventative health more actively.
How the turning point happened
Decades of ignored cholesterol
- Hutchins had high cholesterol as a child and repeatedly saw elevated LDL in later lab work.
- Earlier doctor feedback minimized the issue because his short-term cardiovascular risk was low.
- He argues this reflects a broader problem in U.S. medicine: heart disease prevention often focuses on 10-year risk, which can miss long-term risk entirely.
Family history changed the picture
- A more thorough doctor asked about his family history, something he says had rarely happened before.
- He discovered a strong pattern of:
- high cholesterol
- hypertension
- some cancer history, including melanoma in his father
- That context led to more meaningful screening and risk assessment.
Tests and screenings that mattered most
Cardiovascular testing
- ApoB and Lp(a): used to better assess cardiovascular risk beyond standard LDL.
- Coronary calcium scan: first scan showed a score of 2, which suggested early coronary artery disease.
- CT angiogram: later scan came back with zero calcified and zero soft plaque, creating uncertainty about the earlier result, but enough concern remained to continue aggressive prevention.
Treatment outcome
- He was already on a statin, but LDL remained above the target range and his A1C rose.
- He researched insurance coverage for Repatha (a PCSK9 inhibitor), found he met the criteria, and won approval after appeal.
- Result: cholesterol, ApoB, and Lp(a) all dropped to much healthier levels; A1C improved as well.
Other useful diagnostics
- Baseline biomarker panels through services like Function Health, Superpower, InsideTracker, etc.
- Full genome sequencing via Nucleus Genomics
- Continuous glucose monitor (CGM) via Levels
- Dermatology full-body scan because of family melanoma history
- DEXA scan to assess body composition and visceral fat
- VO2 max test as a fitness/longevity benchmark
- Whole-body MRI via Prenuvo, which he views as potentially useful but controversial because of incidental findings
What he thinks was less useful
Test collection without a clear action plan
- He went down a rabbit hole of possible diagnostics, but many were curiosity-driven rather than actionable.
- His main lesson: don’t do a test unless you know what you’ll do with the result.
Too much emphasis on “more tests”
- He found that many consumer health testing platforms are similar and often sit on top of Quest Diagnostics.
- The real value is often not the sheer number of tests, but:
- having baseline data
- tracking trends over time
- knowing which metrics matter for your family history
How AI changed his health workflow
Building a personal health data repository
- Hutchins pulled together:
- years of lab results
- doctor notes from MyChart/Epic systems
- Apple Health data
- wearable data
- PDFs, scans, and even CD-ROM imaging files
- He stored everything locally in a folder, then used Claude/ChatGPT-style tools to analyze it.
What he asked AI to do
- Read his health records
- Pull in research from PubMed and clinical trials
- Transcribe and incorporate podcast episodes and other sources
- Generate a personalized report on risks, priorities, and next steps
Why this helped
- The AI report surfaced useful issues, including an overlooked recommendation to return to dermatology for regular full-body scans.
- He still treats AI as a supplement, not a replacement, because it can hallucinate and misread data.
- The best use case is AI + doctor together: AI for breadth and organization, human for judgment.
Biggest takeaways and practical advice
Start with the basics
- Hutchins repeatedly emphasizes that diet, exercise, weight, and fitness are likely more important than advanced testing for most people.
Know your family history
- He calls this one of the cheapest and most valuable “tests” you can do.
- If possible, talk to parents and grandparents about:
- heart disease
- hypertension
- cancers
- metabolic issues
Track trends, not just snapshots
- A single out-of-range marker is less useful than the trajectory over time.
- Compare results across years and across interventions.
Use insurance appeals and manufacturer discounts
- He successfully appealed a denied drug request.
- If a medication is denied, check:
- prior authorization appeal pathways
- manufacturer copay/discount cards
- direct-to-consumer pricing options
Keep a human in the loop
- He recommends having a doctor who can help interpret results and prevent overreacting to one red flag.
- He sees the ideal setup as a proactive primary care doctor plus AI-assisted record review.
What he’s still thinking about
- Whether to get a colonoscopy before insurance coverage kicks in
- Increasing omega-3 intake by eating more fish
- Continuing to refine his health corpus as new test results come in
Final takeaway
Hutchins’ core message is that modern patients can do far more than they used to:
- collect their own records
- get targeted preventive tests
- use AI to organize and interpret data
- work with a doctor who understands the full picture
But he stresses that the most important wins still come from the fundamentals: better habits, family history awareness, and using tests only when they lead to action.