What blood testing do you recommend?
December 16, 2017
I will cover standard blood tests (iron serum, blood cell counts, creatinine, etc) elsewhere.
The following tests are the more specialist tests that I have had to hunt down. These tests inform me at a much more detailed level about how my body is performing. They are not available through normal medical channels and quite frankly I have been surprised by how little mainstream doctors know about their existence, the need for them, their interpretation and the treatment for the underlying causes.
This is all part of a new & emerging science coming largely out of the USA and falls under the umbrella of ‘functional medicine’. This area of biology recognises that we are all bio-individual and that we have to understand our bodies at a deeper level, hunting down the causes of illness, not the symptoms, if we are to find specific treatments that are going to work for us as unique individuals.
If you wish to undertake any of these tests you will need to consult with a specialist practitioner (I use a nutritionist) as the laboratories do not give interpretations of results or suggested treatments.
Many of these tests apply to general health. I see every reason why everyone would want to undertake the NutrEval test, for example, so understand how their body handles what they are consuming.
For each test I have listed
- the test name
- the rationale for undertaking the test
- the laboratory
Test: Thyroid Advanced Panel – Test code BP005
Rationale: hormone imbalances are considered to be the causes of many chronic illnesses, including cancer. Hormones profiles are often out of balance due to stress loads, excess hormones through lifestyles (eg growth hormones in mass reared meat) and pseudo-hormones (eg pseduo-oestrogens from household chemicals). In the case of the thyroid, hormones T3 and T4 are of particular interest.
Some cancers (eg breast & prostate cancer especially) are thought to be heavily hormone respondent.
Laboratory: Regenerus: http://regeneruslabs.com/
Test: Dutch Complete Hormone Profile – Test code HOR30
Rationale: hormone imbalances are considered to be the causes of many chronic illnesses, including cancer. Hormones profiles are often out of balance due to stress loads, excess hormones through lifestyles (eg growth hormones in mass reared meat) and pseudo-hormones (eg pseduo-oestrogens from household chemicals).
Laboratory: Regenerus: http://regeneruslabs.com/
Test: NutrEval nutritional profile
Rationale: see how the body absorbs and metabolizes specific nutrients.
Laboratory: Genova Diagnostics: https://www.gdx.net/uk/
Test: Adrenal stress profile
Rationale: understanding cortisol & DHEA profiles as a indicator of how well the body manages stress.
Laboratory: Genova Diagnostics: https://www.gdx.net/uk/
Test: Digestive stool analysis 2.0
Rationale: to understand gut performance: immunology, pathogens and absorption.
Laboratory: Genova Diagnostics: https://www.gdx.net/uk/
Test: Candida antibodies
Rationale: to test for candida presence as this can be a highly stubborn & problematic gut pathogen.
Laboratory: Genova Diagnostics: https://www.gdx.net/uk/
