Specialised laboratory Testing
The following are a sample of some of the integrative testing performed at this clinic. If you would like to order a test kit please advise on the Ask Dr Sue page and specify which kit you require with your address details.
Comprehensive Stool Analysis
The comprehensive stool analysis detects the presence of pathogenic microorganisms such as yeast, parasites, and bacteria which contribute to chronic illness and neurological dysfunction. It provides helpful information about prescription and natural products effective against specific microorganism strains detected in the sample. The test also evaluates beneficial bacteria levels, intestinal immune function, overall intestinal health (presence of occult blood, short chain fatty acids analysis, pH, mucus and other criteria) and inflammation markers.
Panel includes:
Parameters for digestion & absorption
Cultures for bacteria
Cultures for yeast
Parasite testing
Sensitivity panels
Inflammatory markers
Stool metabolic markers
Infectious pathogens
What is the test recommended for?
Autism ADHD Autoimmune disorders
Chronic fatigue
Crohn's Disease
Fibromyalgia
Irritable Bowel Syndrome
Joint pain
Psoriasis
Hair Metal Analysis
Extensive research established that scalp hair element levels are related to human systemic levels. The strength of this relationship varies for specific elements, and many researchers consider hair as the tissue of choice for toxic and several nutrient elements. Unlike blood, hair element levels are not regulated by homeostatic mechanisms. Thus, deviations in hair element levels often appear prior to overt symptoms and can thereby be a valuable preliminary tool for predicting the development of physiological abnormalities.
Why hair?
With respect to its contained elements, hair is essentially an excretory tissue rather than a functional tissue. Hair element analysis provides important information which, in conjunction with symptoms and other laboratory values, can assist the physician with an early diagnosis of physiological disorders associated with aberrations in essential and toxic element metabolism.
Nutrient elements including magnesium, chromium, zinc, copper and selenium are obligatory co-factors for hundreds of important enzymes and also are essential for the normal functions of vitamins. The levels of these elements in hair are correlated with levels in organs and other tissues.
What is this test recommended for?
Alzheimer's
Anxiety or stress
Attention deficit disorder
Autism and PDD
Chronic fatigue
Depression
Down Syndrome
Recurrent otitis media
Rheumatism
Urine Toxic Metals
Urine toxic and essential elements analysis is an invaluable tool for the assessment of retention of toxic metals in the body and the status of essential nutrient elements. Analysis of the levels of toxic metals in urine after the administration of a metal detoxification agent is an objective way to evaluate the accumulation of toxic metals. Acute metal poisoning is rare. More common, however, is a chronic, low-level exposure to toxic metals that can result in significant retention in the body that can be associated with a vast array of adverse health effects and chronic disease. To evaluate net retention, one compares the levels of metals in urine before and after the administration of a pharmaceutical metal detoxification agent. This sequesters "hidden" metals from deep tissue stores and mobilizes the metals to the kidneys for excretion in the urine. Guidelines for collection periods after administration of the most commonly utilized agents are provided in the table below:
Common Agents | Half Life | Collection Period |
EDTA | about 1 hr | 6 - 24 hrs |
DMPS (IV) | about 1 hr | 2 - 6 hrs |
DMPS (oral) | about 9 hrs | 6 - 9 hrs |
DMSA | 4 hr | 6 - 9 hrs |
What is this test recommended for?
Alzheimer's
Anxiety or stress
Attention deficit disorder
Autism and PDD
Chronic fatigue
Depression
Down Syndrome
Dry skin
Recurrent otitis media
Rheumatism
The Organic Acids Test
The Organic Acids Test (OAT) provides a metabolic "snapshot" based on those products the body discarded during urination. These small organic acid molecules are byproducts of human cellular activity, the digestion of foods, and the life cycles of gastrointestinal flora. Organic acids in urine may be toxic at certain levels or may simply be "markers" of metabolic pathways. Metabolites of yeast or gastrointestinal bacteria appear against the background of normal human metabolites and provide a real-time assessment of yeast and bacterial activity. These organisms can produce or exacerbate symptoms in many conditions and often affect other metabolic processes assessed in the full OAT profile.
Additional pathways of interest include products of carbohydrate digestion, mitochondrial function which produces most cellular energy, many vitamin levels, neurotransmitter metabolites, fatty acid oxidation abnormalities or ketosis, oxalate levels, and inborn errors of metabolism. The Organic Acids Test evaluates all of the well-defined inborn errors of metabolism that can be detected with this technology (called GC/MS) such as PKU, maple-syrup urine disease, and many others. In addition, it will check for many other abnormalities such as vitamin deficiencies and abnormal metabolism of catecholamines, dopamine, and serotonin.
Saliva Hormone Tests
There exists a lot of confusion about how to test for hormones but ....
What a Blood Test Measures
"Blood" tests for progesterone refer to the serum or plasma concentration of progesterone. Plasma is the watery, non-cellular portion of the blood from which cellular components such as red blood cells and white blood cells, are excluded. Serum is essentially the same as plasma except that fibrinogen has been removed. Serum and plasma, being watery, contain water-soluble (hydrophilic) substances such as water-soluble vitamins, carbohydrates, and proteins. Serum and plasma do not contain fat-soluble (lipophilic) substances. For the purposes of this discussion, serum and plasma are interchangeable and I will refer to them as serum. Sex hormones such as progesterone, estrogen and testosterone are fat-soluble steroids similar to cholesterol. When you have a serum cholesterol measurement, you are measuring cholesterol bound to protein, which makes it water-soluble. (Recall that serum cholesterol is described as HDL or LDL cholesterol, referring to the proteins to which it is bound.)
How Progesterone Travels in Blood
The ovary-produced progesterone found in serum is also largely protein-bound. Protein-bound progesterone is not readily bioavailable to receptors in target tissues throughout the body. It is on its way to the liver to be excreted in bile. Only 2 to 5 percent of serum progesterone is "free" or non-protein-bound. This is the progesterone available to target tissues and to saliva. Thus, progesterone measured by serum levels is mostly a measure of progesterone that is not going to be used by the body. A serum test can be used to compare one woman's progesterone production to that of another woman, or to test how much progesterone is being made by a woman's ovaries.
When progesterone is given intravenously, 80 percent of it is taken up by red blood cell membranes that are fatty in nature and therefore available to fat-soluble progesterone molecules. Less than 20 percent will be found in serum. It is obvious that serum levels would not detect the great majority of the progesterone added to whole blood.
A range of hormones can be measured this way. In addition urine can be used for a more complete picture.
