Functional Diagnostic testing can be incredibly helpful in the diagnostic work up of patients suffering with chronic health problems….
Do you suffer from any of the following problems?
- Chronic gastrointestinal problems such as IBS, post-infectious IBS, leaky gut, food allergies, food sensitivity, histamine intolerance, inflammation, ulcers, leaky gut, Crohns disease, Ulcerative colitis, etc.?
- Skin problems such as acne, rosacea, psoriasis, itchy skin, hives, eczema, or urticaria?
- Chronic fatigue syndrome or Fibromyalgia?
- Autoimmune conditions such as arthritis
- Elevated cholesterol or heart disease (may be linked to certain microbes)
- Thyroid problems
- Elevated levels of toxic metals?
- Depression, anxiety, or other central nervous system conditions
- Food allergies, gluten intolerance, or multiple chemical sensitivities?
- the list goes on and on and many conditions may seem very far removed from the health of the gut and the functioning of the local immune system in the gut; but they are not! See here for a nice review on Dysbiosis of the gut microbiota in disease
And have you had exposure to any of these?
- Antibiotics as a child
- Multiple courses of antibiotics as an adult
- Severe food poisoning or gastro bugs or gastro-flu
- History of foreign travel
- Well water or exposure to water of questionable quality
- Oral contraceptive pill, stomach acid blockers/ proton pump inhibitors, or steroid medication exposures
- High stress levels
- Poor diet; notably high intake of sugar or foods containing antibiotics or glycophosphates (e.g. processed wheat), or alcohol
- Pets and farm animals
It may be easier than you think to diagnose a significant causative factor to your chronic health problems…
This is why so many of you will have had only minimal success with strict elimination diets, detox diets, supplements, probiotics or herbs. Because it is like trying to shoot at a target in the dark; it is vital to know what exactly you are dealing with.
Both Diagnostic Laboratories and Genova Diagnostics Laboratories tests comprehensively examine the microbial balance of the gut, levels of protective immune factors, parasites and yeasts, whether there is suspected inflammation or worse. Thus, test results give us practical information about what is going on, and how to treat it. In other words the results may help to tell us why there is inflammation, leaky gut, food allergies and local and systemic health symptoms and how to go about healing all this mess. More literature is available in the links below.
The two most common tests that I use in the clinic are Diagnostics Solutions GI-MAP (also includes gluten and gliadin antibodies; click here to read a sample report Report_GI_MAP_v7_01 and here to read their white paper GI_MAP_White_Paper) and also Genova Diagnostics comprehensive parasitology and microbiology testing (or the full comprehensive diagnostic stool testing).
Without finding out what is going on in the gut, specialist diets, supplements and probiotics will only reap limited results in a sort of Band-Aid approach. Imbalanced gut microbiology may lead to diverse symptoms in the gut and throughout the body; multiple food allergies, histamine intolerance, gluten intolerance and all sorts of messed up complex and chronic health conditions (even fertility problems, thyroid problems, autoimmune arthritis, migraines, skin problems, liver problems, fatigue, depression and the list goes on and on)….
