Why is saliva better than blood analysis?

There are many reasons why saliva is quickly overtaking blood as the diagnostic tool of choice. First, saliva testing is far more economical. This is due in large part to the viability of saliva, which requires no special storage during shipping. Further, saliva has a shelf life of 4-6 weeks at room temperature, making it cheaper to store before and after shipping. The ease of collecting saliva also makes it a better diagnostic choice than blood. This advantage is amplified in cases where multiple sample collection over a period is required (i.e. female cyclical evaluations, sleep and cortisol diurnal through nocturnal assessments, etc.). Therefore, using saliva makes it far more convenient for patients to provide samples. Finally, saliva is more definitive when evaluating hormone levels because it measures free levels, providing a better picture of what is occurring at the cellular level.

What exactly is hair analysis?

A.         Your hair contains all the minerals present in your body, including nutritional minerals as well as toxic heavy metals.  Hair mineral tissue analysis (HMTA) is a laboratory test that measures this mineral content in the hair.  In most cases, the test results reflect how much of these elements are in your tissues and provide a vivid picture of your internal environment.  With this information, a world of metabolic events can be interpreted.  Not only can your nutritional status be viewed, but we can also learn much about how efficiently your body is working.

The sampled hair, obtained by cutting the first inch and one-half of growth closest to the scalp at the nape of the neck, is prepared in a licensed clinical laboratory through a series of chemical and high temperature digestive procedures. Testing is then performed using highly sophisticated detection equipment and methods to achieve the most accurate and precise results.

“One man's food is another man's poison" is a familiar old saying that simply means that different people can have very different reactions to the same food. For example, while few of us would think twice about munching on peanuts while watching a ballgame, others with a sensitivity or allergy to peanuts could experience a life threatening situation. Fortunately, few of us will ever have to worry about such extreme reactions to foods, but it may come as a surprise that at least 30% of us will experience some kind of food sensitivity during our lifetime.

Food allergies are toxic clinical reactions to food or food additives that involve the immune system. Food allergy reactions are immediate and extreme. Food sensitivities, on the other hand, can be difficult to diagnose because symptoms may be delayed for up to two days after a food has been consumed. Food sensitivities can cause symptoms with varying degrees of physical discomfort, which we often never relate to the food we eat as the source.

Use this checklist to get a sense of how acidic you may be. Determining your acidity levels isn't an exact science, but this Self-Test can help you get a better idea of how urgently you need to begin alkalizing your body.

Directions:

1.         Make a mark next to any of the symptoms listed here, if you have them.

2.         Count the total number of symptoms in each category.

The idea is this: the more symptoms, the more acidic you may be, and the more urgent it is for you to begin an alkalizing program.

By  Deirdre Rawlings, ND, PhD, MH, CNC

Currently there are no laboratory tests that can confirm a diagnosis of FM.   For the most part, fibromyalgia sufferers experience a variety of debilitating symptoms that seem to worsen over time and which often result in an endless line of doctor’s visits that bring neither relief nor answers.   Fibromyalgia patients often go through a range of various prescriptions and over-the-counter medications which includes sleeping pills, anti-depressants, SRI’s, (non-steroidal) NSAIDs, and pain killers, as they search for understanding, reliable answers and proper care and treatment.

Current allopathic treatment methods for FM are not reliable nor are they the answer.   Taking these drugs sets the patient up for a series of diminishing health-related problems and a cascade of adverse reactions and side effects that further diminishes health.  This leads the sufferer meanwhile into depression and deeper exhaustion as they watch in despair while their lives unravel in a down-ward spiral of diminishing health.

The truth of the matter is there is no magic pill; the treatment isn’t a prescription medication or a drug.  While some medications may offer short-term symptom relief FM seems to be mostly associated in one way or another with poor diet and nutritional deficiencies.  What is mostly needed is changing the way you live and living in harmony with your genes.  It’s not using foods and chemicals that are working against you genetically.  It is a matter of eating foods and nutrients that are nourishing and building rather than those which upset our biochemistry and our homeostasis.