Seven Helpful Diagnostic Tests Your Doctor Doesn’t Offer

Most of our Pacific Naturopathic patients take our Wellness Panel, a series of lab tests that give us wonderful data for diagnosing most ailments. The Wellness Panel goes considerably farther than standard medical lab testing.

Marcel Hernandez, ND
Marcel Hernandez, ND

Dr. Connie will describe the Wellness Panel tests in the a coming article. But you may be interested to know that we offer a large number of specialty tests that can give us very valuable supplementary diagnostic and therapeutic information for a number of specific health conditions.

It’s highly unlikely that your family physician offers these tests; indeed, most mainstream doctors will have no idea how to interpret the information reported.

Here are seven of the many specialty tests we offer:

  1. Comprehensive Stool Analysis with Parasitology

Gastrointestinal issues are among the most common complaints for which people seek medical care.

The symptoms can include: persistent diarrhea, constipation, bloating, gas, indigestion, irritable bowel syndrome, and malabsorption.

The Comprehensive Stool Analysis helps us assess the health of your body’s digestive and nutrient absorption functions, as well as the presence of any troublesome pathogens, and the effectiveness of any therapies you’re currently undergoing for GI disorders.

We can also perform antimicrobial susceptibility testing to determine which natural remedies will be most effective for eliminating specific bacterial and fungal species.

This test is useful for diagnosing gastrointestinal symptoms, autoimmune disease, joint pain, IBD/IBS, inflammation, food sensitivities, nutritional deficiencies, skin conditions, and other gastrointestinal issues. (Read more HERE.)

Urine Toxic Metals

This test helps us evaluate your exposure to potentially toxic substances.

Additionally, we it can help us evaluate your body’s retention of potentially toxic elements.

A follow-up urine toxic metals analysis, can help us monitor the effectiveness of metal detoxification therapy.

The urine toxic metals test is useful in a wide variety of conditions, including: toxin exposure, hair loss, abnormal bone density, cardiovascular disease, depression, skin conditions, fatigue, gastrointestinal symptoms, hypertension, possible problems with immune function, inflammation, kidney function, nutritional deficiencies, Parkinson’s-like symptoms, and others. (Read about it HERE.)

Micronutrient Testing

This test measures the levels of 35 nutritional components, including vitamins, antioxidants, minerals, and amino acids within the body’s white blood cells.

The micronutrient test gives us a comprehensive nutritional analysis, by measuring any functional deficiencies at the cellular level.

It can help us assess how well your body is utilizing vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids, antioxidants, and metabolites. It can also help us evaluate your body’s need for these important micronutrients that enable the body to produce enzymes, hormones, and other substances essential for proper growth, development, and good health.

The micronutrient test gives us a basis for prescribing a personalized program to address a broad variety of clinical conditions, including arthritis, cancer, cardiovascular risk, diabetes, various immunological disorders, metabolic disorders, and micronutrient deficiencies. (More information HERE.)

Adrenal Stress Index

Adrenal health has been much in the news in recent years, because healthy adrenals are essential for a wide variety of bodily functions An abnormal adrenal state can influence energy production, muscle and joint function, bone health, immune health, sleep quality, skin regeneration, thyroid function, chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), glycemic dysregulation, allergies, autoimmune disorders, depression, and ADD.

The Adrenal Stress Index gives us a solid basis to determine of under-performing adrenals may be contributing to these conditions that can seriously affect our quality of life. (Read about this test HERE.)

Food Allergy Testing

Some people experience immediate allergic symptoms when exposed to pollens, dust, animal dander, and specific foods.

The first step in creating a program for healthy recovery requires that we accurately identify the specific allergies. We can then determine an effective recovery program, which might include immunotherapy, lifestyle management, and permanent elimination of any reactive foods. The food allergy test gives us a solid basis for identifying the allergens that are causing your symptoms, By detecting serum IgE specific for airborne allergens and foods. (Read more HERE.)

Male and Female Hormone Panels

Males: By analyzing a simple saliva sample, this panel measures the levels of seven hormones: DHEA, androstenedione, testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, estrone, estradiol, and progesterone.

We also offer an expanded panel that measures these seven hormones plus FSH and LH. The hormone levels in saliva reflect the active tissue concentrations. Blood test are much less effective, because blood contains mostly protein-bound hormones whose active levels can, at best, only be estimated. This is why active fraction measurements from saliva are superior to blood for use in diagnosis and treatment. (More HERE.)

Females: The female hormone panel simultaneously determines estrogen and progesterone profiles. This accurate test helps us eliminate diagnostic guesswork and accurately evaluate and treat hormonal imbalances.

The test also reports the cycle average for testosterone and DHEA, and an expanded panel includes five FSH and LH measurements that can help us determine if brain control and stimulation of the ovaries are optimal. Read more HERE.

Would you like to learn more about these and other specialty tests that we offer? Call us to make an appointment, and to discuss these and other tests we offer at Pacific Naturopathic. (650) 917-1121.

For more on Dr. Marcel’s work click HERE.