Why Is Lab Testing So Important In Functional Medicine?



Lab testing is foundational to functional medicine, and for good reason. It can show you what is causing your symptoms, if you are headed toward a disease (even if you don’t have symptoms), track the progress of your protocol, and motivate you to stick with your protocol. 
Lab testing includes many different tests. Some examples of testing used in functional medicine include:
-Food sensitivity testing: If a food you eat regularly causes inflammation, this contributes to chronic health disorders. 
-Gut testing: Gut problems contribute to chronic health issues. Tests can screen for leaky gut, gut function, parasites, bacterial overgrowth, and autoimmune reactions.
-Blood chemistry panel: This is an excellent starting point in functional medicine testing and includes the use of functional medicine ranges (versus lab ranges). Blood testing screens for some diseases and can catch a trend toward a disease while there’s still time to reverse it.
-Chemical and metal sensitivity testing: As with foods, an immune reaction to chemicals or metals can trigger chronic inflammatory health disorders.
-Adrenal testing: Adrenal testing reveals the relationship between your health and stress handling. The most important test is the second one because it shows if your protocol is working. If not, you need to dig deeper.
-Hormone testing: Hormone imbalances profoundly affect health.
Hormonal testing screens for excesses, deficiencies, feedback loops, and how well you metabolize hormones.
-DNA genetic testing: Genetic testing delivers insight into disease risk and genetic metabolic variations that affect health. An example is the MTHFR variance. 
These are just a few examples of the types of testing used in functional medicine. What type of testing you need depends on your symptoms and health history. 
Functional medicine is based on peer-reviewed science and finds the root cause of your symptoms. There are a variety of factors that can lead to depression, fatigue, chronic pain, poor function, and other chronic health disorders.
Functional lab testing shows a trend toward disease:
In conventional medicine, doctors use labs to screen for disease. Once a condition has become a disease, such as diabetes or autoimmune disease, the damage is significant. 
Functional medicine uses lab testing to catch a health trend that is on the way to disease but that can still be slowed, halted, or reversed. For instance, lab markers that show elevated blood sugar, inflammation, and poor liver function allow you to easily reverse the march towards diabetes.
Another example is autoimmunity. A significant amount of tissue must be destroyed before conventional medicine can diagnose autoimmune disease. However, by testing for antibodies against tissue, the autoimmune progression can be slowed or stopped in its early stages.
Functional lab testing tracks progress:
Although the first test is important for identifying health problems, subsequent testing is also crucial to let you know whether your protocol is working. If there is no improvement, it means you have not hit on the right protocol or discovered all the underlying causes.
Lab testing improves compliance and social support:
Seeing the results of a lab test makes it easier to stick with a protocol. It also can encourage a disbelieving spouse, family member, or friend to support you. Many people think gluten sensitivity is just a fad, or that your symptoms aren’t real and you simply complain too much. Your lab results validate your symptoms and can help others be more supportive.
Ask my office about functional lab testing to help you get to the bottom of your chronic health condition. My office can be reached at 321-783-1960


Are You Ready To Get To The Root Cause Of Your Health Conditions?

We are offering a discounted consultation fee with the mention of this post to FaceBook. Please call us today to find out more 321-783-1930 
299 N. Orlando Ave.
Cocoa Beach, Fl. 32931



Location: 299 N Orlando Ave, Cocoa Beach, FL 32931, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

5 Explanations Of Lupus And Hashimoto’s Co-existence

Image
According to estimates, about 6% of patients with lupus also have hypothyroidism and 1% hyperthyroidism. Hashimoto’s disease is the most common form of hypothyroidism in patients with lupus. This finding doesn’t come as a surprise because both conditions are autoimmune diseases with a common etiology. Lupus is a systemic autoimmune disease that can target almost any part of the body, especially the joints, lungs, heart, skin, blood, kidneys and brain. In Hashimoto’s the immune system attacks only the thyroid, however a lack of thyroid hormones can affect all bodily functions and any organs. As a result when lupus and a thyroid disease coexist it can have a much bigger negative impact on your body. Many symptoms of both disorders can overlap and drive each other making the diagnosis and treatment even more difficult. It can take years for Hashimoto’s disease and lupus to develop and progress to the stage when a person can be diagnosed with a standard testing. This can lea
Read more

9 Recommended Lifestyle Changes For Autoimmune Diseases

Image
Autoimmune diseases have become a huge health burden. They're now estimated to impact over 24 million Americans, or between  five to eight percent  of the population. In fact, more than 80 diseases have been classified as autoimmune, and the list continues to grow. That includes conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, Celiac disease, and thyroid disease. They often involve hard-to-classify syndromes like inflammation, pain, swelling, and misery. Autoimmunity occurs when your immune system—your body's defense against invaders—becomes confused. In other words, your body is fighting something, whether that's infections, toxins, allergens, or a stress response. But somehow, that immune army can't distinguish friend from foe. Your own tissue gets caught in friendly crossfire, and your joints, brain, skin, and sometimes your whole body become casualties. Typically, drugs are used to address autoimmune diseases. In many cases, they
Read more

Gluten, Grains, Legumes and Autoimmune Disease

Image
Prominently situated at the base of the food pyramid, grains are promoted as the fiber-rich foundation of a healthy diet. But are grains really a necessary part of your diet, or can they in fact be harmful? If you have an  autoimmune disease , you may already be aware of the fact that gluten, the protein in wheat that gives bread its sticky, doughy texture, is an inflammatory substance. However, wheat is not unique. Many of the plants that we consume contain similar proteins that will increase inflammation in your body and contribute to a  leaky gut . Although most people benefit from avoiding foods such as grains, pseudograins, legumes, and nightshades, I recommend for those with an autoimmune disease to omit these foods from their diets, at least until their inflammation has subsided and their gut has healed. Food Sensitivity  Testing is the best course of action to determine whether or not these foods will continue to be a problem in the future. In order to better understan
Read more