Laboratory Testing

Since we know that heavy metals, pesticides, and other environmental toxins can have a negative impact on your health, we offer the most up to date testing methods used to detect these chemicals in your system. Because many of these toxic agents are stored in your fat cells and nervous tissue, specialized protocols are used to help your body excrete these toxins, improving the accuracy of test results. This is much more reliable than just measuring serum levels of these toxins, which tells you little about long-term exposure. We also use specialized testing to identify abnormal immune responses that are associated with mold toxicity and other chemical sensitivities.

Overwhelming scientific evidence confirms that vitamin deficiencies are associated with disease processes and the overall condition of one’s health. Vitamin, mineral, and antioxidant deficiencies have been shown to disrupt immune function, and contribute to chronic disease. When it comes to testing for micronutrient deficiencies, mainstream laboratories often fall short. For this reason, we like to utilize laboratories who use specialized technology to identify nutritional deficiencies on a cellular level.

In many cases, people will have reactions to food, yet will test negative for a true food allergy. Food sensitivities can be adverse reactions to food that aren’t governed by the allergy response, but rather other immune responses or enzyme deficiencies that can manifest as symptoms. We will often implement elimination diets as a way of identifying underlying food sensitivities, but will sometimes rely on specialized testing as well.

Conventional testing offered by GI specialists can be useful for identifying underlying disease states, but many patients with digestive complaints don’t technically have a “disease,” and are left with a diagnosis of IBS. By utilizing stool tests that measure microbial imbalances, enzyme function, and inflammation within the intestines, we can gain a better understanding of what’s happening within the intestinal environment, and learn how to treat it effectively. Since we believe that optimal digestive function is central to overall health, the amount of information we can gain from this testing is invaluable. Balancing beneficial microbial flora in the gut is key in digestion, nutrient usage, and ridding the body of waste and pathogens. Poor digestion and malabsorption can lead to immune dysfunction, nutritional insufficiencies, mental/emotional disorders, and autoimmune diseases.

Sex hormones, including estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, are mostly fat soluble by nature. Therefore, measuring levels of these hormones in the serum doesn’t give you a whole lot of information regarding how much of these hormones are available to the cells. Measuring hormone levels via saliva testing is a much better indicator of how much hormone is available for the body to use, leading to a more reliable assessment of whether or not someone may be deficient in a particular hormone. Plus, since hormone levels can fluctuate throughout the day, or depending on where the testing may fall within the menstrual cycle, saliva testing can make it much more convenient to take multiple samples when necessary, further improving the accuracy of test results.

Lyme disease is a complicated entity, making the diagnosis of this condition extremely challenging. The current two-tiered approach to laboratory diagnosis recommended by the CDC is unreliable, and in many cases leads to the diagnosis of Lyme disease being missed altogether. In reality, Lyme disease is meant to be a clinical diagnosis, with laboratory evidence helping to further guide the clinician’s decision making process (whether than solely relying on lab testing to make a diagnosis). We’re very up to date when it comes to recognizing the signs and symptoms of Lyme disease and related co-infections, and will also use laboratories that specialize in the detection of Lyme disease when necessary. If you suspect that you have Lyme disease, yet have been told by countless specialists that your testing is negative, so therefore it can’t be true, come and see us for a second opinion!

Assessing thyroid function is more complex than making a diagnosis solely based on TSH levels. Many factors need to be assessed through proper laboratory testing and evaluation of clinical symptoms. If your physician relies solely on checking your TSH to assess your thyroid, they may be doing you a great disservice. When we’re suspicious of thyroid disorders, we will typically look at multiple levels, including free T4, free T3, thyroid antibodies, and reverse T3. We also take into account a number of other factors that could potentially be having a negative impact on thyroid function, such as food allergies, heavy metal toxicity, adrenal hormone status, and micronutrient deficiencies. If you suspect that your thyroid function may be less optimal than it should be, yet you’ve been told that it’s “normal”, come and see us for a more thorough evaluation.