One of the biggest statements I hear from prospective new clients is "my labs look fantastic, but I feel like trash."  What ends up happening is that person's symptoms get chalked up to being "that's just life, you're a busy mom," or "it must be on your head, here's an antidepressant."  Normal blood work doesn't mean normal health. 

Your traditional labs are a rule-out disease test, not a rule-in health test.  They are good for spotting immediate needs and danger, but it has been falsely assumed that if a person is "normal", then there is nothing wrong with that person.  It comes down to treating the labs, not the person.

For example:

"Doctors should be telling their patients, 'I'm going to normalize your TSH, but you're going to be at a higher risk of gaining weight, experiencing depression and fatigue. It is also more likely that your cholesterol will go up.' That's what we should be telling patients, based on our study."

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2016

As a result, your functional provider will use testing that is based more on what is deficient and toxic to the body.  The only reason illness occurs is due to deficiency and toxicity.  Illness does not occur because you lack the right amount of Lipitor, Tylenol, or Metformin.

With that said, here are 3 tests to consider when getting to the root of your issues, especially when all other lab work has shown to be inconclusive. 

Organic acid testing provides insight into how well patients function metabolically. Practitioners can use insights from the Organic Acid Profile to personalize protocols to help patients improve dysfunctional pathways that may be contributing to current or future disease states.

Benefits of Organic Acid Testing Include:

• Organic acids are efficiently excreted through the kidneys as end products of metabolism. Evaluating organic acids in urine is a preferred and easy-to-collect testing option.
   
• Organic acids are produced endogenously during normal cellular metabolism and require dietary-derived vitamins, minerals, and other compounds as processing cofactors. Organic acid testing provides practitioners with essential clues for targeted supplementation.
   
• Catabolic products of essential amino acids in urine may help to identify the flow of dysfunctional metabolic pathways. Amino acid breakdown products can help gain insight into:
  • Nutrient cofactor needs
  • Methylation
  • Catecholamine turnover
  • Glutathione status
  • Level of Inflammation
     
• The Organic Acid Profile evaluates imbalances in the Krebs Cycle intermediate organic acids. Understanding imbalances in the Krebs Cycle can help identify location of impaired flow and possible impacts of the pathways.
   
• The Organic Acid Profile helps Identify impacts on stress and mood disorders by providing information on neurotransmitter turnover and cortisol levels.
   
• Gut bacteria produce organic acids during their metabolic processing. Identification of these unique compounds can indicate potential gut-microbiome imbalances.

Some conditions that warrant testing are:

• Fatigue
• Digestive complaints, diarrhea or constipation
• Brain fog
• Mood disorders, depression, and anxiety
• Diabetes and weight-loss issues
• Sleep issues
• Sports performance optimization

A Micronutrient test provides the most comprehensive nutritional analysis available by measuring functional deficiencies at the cellular level. It is an assessment of how well the body utilizes 31 vitamins, minerals, amino/fatty acids, antioxidants, and metabolites, while conveying the body’s need for these micronutrients that enable the body to produce enzymes, hormones, and other substances essential for proper growth, development, and good health. 

Unlike static serum measurements, which only assess the concentration of nutrients present outside of the cell (extracellular) and only provide a glimpse of your health, SpectraCell’s Micronutrient test is a long-term assessment (4-6 months) that addresses the functional impact (performance) of micronutrients—what really matters. 

Some conditions that warrant testing are:

• Cardiovascular disease
• Diabetes
• Neurological disorders/Alzheimer’s
• Autism and other spectrum disorders
• Mood disorders
• Fatigue
• Osteoporosis
• Fertility issues
• Weight issues
• Sports performance optimization

The Gastrointestinal Microbial Assay Plus (GI-MAP) is an innovative clinical tool that measures gastrointestinal microbiota DNA from a single stool sample with state of the art, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) technology.

The GI-MAP was designed to detect microbes that may be disturbing normal microbial balance or contributing to illness, as well as indicators of digestion, absorption, inflammation, and immune function.

PATHOGENS

The GI-MAP includes pathogens (bacterial, parasitic, and viral) commonly known to cause intestinal gastroenteritis. It's important to note that not all individuals with positive findings for pathogens will present with symptoms. Many factors, including the health of the individual, the transient nature of some pathogens, and the presence and expression of virulence factors all contribute to an individual's symptoms.

Toxins are a type of virulence factor produced by certain pathogens. Since GI-MAP is a DNA-based test, results reflect the levels of pathogenic strains carrying the toxin genes, not the levels of any toxins that may be produced.

H. pylori

Recent studies have shown that nearly 50% of the world's population may harbor H. pylori. And, although many carriers are asymptomatic, H. pylori is known to have a causative role in ulcers, chronic gastritis, and stomach cancer.  Additionally, in early phases of colonization, patients may experience hypochlorhydria followed by a change to hyper aciduria. Over time, additional H. pylori strains may colonize, including those with Virulence Factors and increased disease potential.

OPPORTUNISTIC/OVERGROWTH MICROBES

Many bacteria measured on the GI-MAP are considered opportunistic pathogens, as they only cause disease and illness in some individuals, particularly the immune-compromised. Many individuals come into contact with opportunistic bacteria and experience no symptoms. Most sources consider these microbes to be normal in the stool. However, they can cause gastroenteritis and inflammation at high levels in vulnerable patients. Symptoms may include diarrhea, loose stools, abdominal pain, or even constipation.

Overgrowth and excessive colonization by opportunistic bacteria may occur when the commensal bacteria are impaired by poor diet, antibiotic use, parasitic infection, or a weakened immune system. When intestinal permeability is present (see zonulin), these microbes could escape the lumen of the gut and infect extraintestinal sites.

PARASITES

A parasite is an organism that lives and feeds on a host organism at the expense of the host. The GI-MAP tests for pathogenic parasites and protozoa (some of which are non-pathogenic) most commonly occurring in the GI tract. Sources of exposure should be identified and eliminated to prevent reinfection.

UNIVERSAL ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE GENES

The Universal Antibiotic Resistance (AR) Genes panel can be ordered as an add-on to the GI-MAP or to the GI-Pathogens panel. It detects the presence of 55 genetic elements associated with resistance to 10 different classes of antibiotics.

This AR Genes add-on panel detects genes associated with resistance to the most commonly prescribed antibiotics for gastrointestinal infections. The mobile genetic elements in the panel can be found in a variety of different microbes. The presence of these genes in a bacterial population have been associated with moderate to high levels of antibiotic resistance in human gastrointestinal infections.

AND MORE...

Pancreatic Elastase 1, Steatocrit, Beta-Glucuronidase, Occult Blood Fecal Immunochemical Test (FIT), Secretory IgA (SIgA), Anti-Gliadin SIgA, Eosinophil Activation Protein (EDN/EXP), Calprotectin, and Zonulin.  

Some conditions that warrant testing are:

• Autoimmune diseases
• IBS/IBD
• SIBO
• Digestive complaints, diarrhea or constipation
• Brain fog
• Skin problems, like acne and psoriasis
• Mood disorders, depression, and anxiety
• Diabetes and weight loss resistance.

As much as testing is the key to a targeted solution, implementation is the magic that makes the health transformations.  Functional medicine may not be for you.  Here are 5 reasons NOT to work with a functional medicine provider.