Free Clinical Field Guide
The Pattern Behind Your
“Normal” Labs
Reading Iron Through the Five Elements — Preliminary Findings from 202 Clinical Cases
Marc Ryan, L.Ac. — Yo San University Teaching Clinic — IRB #YSU12172025
Get the Free Download
Free download — plus the LPR practitioner newsletter (lab interpretation, case studies, founding cohort timeline).
What’s inside — 9 pages
Cover + Intro
Context for practitioners who were not at CSOMA 2026 — what this research is and how to use it this week.
Handout 1: Research Findings
Three-tier scorecard and Five-Element Biomarker Domain Map from the 202-case IRB-approved retrospective chart review.
Handout 2: Iron Deficiency Progression Worksheet
The detection and staging worksheet used on every patient with diffuse multi-system symptoms. Operational and ready to use.
Handout 3: Functional Ranges Quick Reference
Iron and associated biomarkers at functional ranges, not conventional reference ranges. Keep it at your desk.
About Living Patterns Readings + Next Steps
The methodology, the certification program, and how to go deeper.
About the Research
This bundle is the clinical material from the CSOMA 2026 presentation Living Patterns: TCM Pattern Diagnosis Validated by Functional Medicine Biomarkers, delivered May 1, 2026 at Yo San University. It captures the iron findings from a 202-case IRB-approved retrospective chart review of Hashimoto’s and complex endocrine patients.
The findings are preliminary and pending independent statistical validation. The Iron Deficiency Progression Worksheet is operational and ready to use today.
“The pattern asks, the panel answers, and the progression tells you what comes next.”
— Marc Ryan, L.Ac.
About Living Patterns Readings
Living Patterns Readings (LPR) is the clinical methodology for integrating TCM pattern diagnosis with functional medicine laboratory biomarkers. Every biomarker maps to one of the Five Elements; pattern identification predicts which biomarker domain to test first; biomarker confirmation upgrades clinical confidence from inference to evidence.
The methodology is the basis of the IRB-approved research study at Yo San University (#YSU12172025, 202 cases) and the Living Patterns Readings Certification Program — a 50-hour CEU-pending certification for licensed acupuncturists, with the founding cohort opening enrollment June 2026.
Author Marc Ryan, L.Ac. is a Licensed Acupuncturist, professor at Yo San University, two-time Hay House author on Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, and the methodology architect. Methodology copyright TXu 2-502-521.