It is important to understand exactly what is being tested, and to ask your healthcare provider for clarification if you are having trouble understanding your results. It doesn’t matter whether you’re reading BUN test results, TSH test results, or another test result entirely—the key is to understand the reference range and see where your results fall on that scale.

In addition to displaying a reference range and your unique result, lab paperwork sometimes shows phrases such as “negative” or “normal” (which means the disease being tested was not found) and “positive” or “abnormal” (which means the disease being tested was found).

Read More: How to Get the Most Out of Your Laboratory Testing