SYMPTOMS ARE NOT A RELIABLE SOURCE FOR CHOOSING VITAMINS!
Why? Because there are multiple biochemical, biological, mental/emotional or physiological causes for any one symptoms. For example, if you have a headache, it may be caused by mental or emotional tension (stress), a hormone imbalance, toxic colon or liver dysfunction, to name a few. What are your chances of choosing the right vitamin when you may have four or more possible causes for your headache?
Let's say you have been diagnosed with arthritis, and you purchase a supplement (vitamin, mineral, herb or homeopathic) for arthritis. Have you been tested to see if the pain from your arthritis is because of bone degeneration (decay) or the inflammation in your tissue, cartilage, etc., around the bone, or both? If you have been tested medically for this, how do you know if a supplement that is listed simply for "arthritis" is addressing any or all of these nutritionally causes?
Though it is always good to increase one's education and this information can enhance your knowledge on uses of the specific supplements you are taking based on nutritional test findings, taking supplements, based on simply reading online web pages or nutrition-related books on taking this vitamin, herb or homeopathic for that symptom or taking the advice of well-meaning health food store employees, or direct or by mail vitamin sales representatives, is guessing, based on symptoms alone, not testing your own nutritional biochemistry for your specific nutritional requirements.
This applies to even well-meaning physicians and other medical or non-medical health care professionals (nurses, vocational technicians, chiropractors, acupuncturists, physical therapists, massage therapists, etc.), who have not completed post-graduate clinical nutrition studies or formal education to obtain a degree in nutritional science or passed the nutritional board examination to become a Board Certified Clinical Nutritionist (C.C.N.). Dr. Smith provides her services to Health Care and Fitness Providers, who want to provide clinical nutrition services to their patients/clients, however, recognize that they do not have the time to pursue nutritional studies and/or they want to save the overhead expenses of hiring a Clinical Nutritionist on staff.
Guessing, instead of testing, means you are relying upon chance to make decisions about your health, and putting your health at risk by doing so. The results of guessing, instead of testing, is delaying your healing and causing more nutritional deficiencies, biochemical imbalances or organ/gland dysfunctions by interfering with your metabolism due to taking the wrong vitamins.
Why Analyze Different Body Specimens?
Hundreds of Tests Available
Just as there are hundreds of medical tests for diagnosing disease, there are hundreds of scientific nutritional tests available to Advanced Clinical Nutrition to identify the causes of nutritional deficiencies, biochemical imbalances and organ/gland dysfunctions.
Because blood, urine and stool are the primary specimens collected and analyzed for medical diagnosis, some people may not be aware of saliva and hair testing. Advanced Clinical Nutrition utilizes all of these specimens for clinical nutrition analyses. Below, we have provided an Analogy on how saliva, urine and hair analysis differs from blood testing.
Any Fluid or Tissue Can Be Analyzed
It is important to note that any fluid or tissue of the body can provide insight into its level of malnutrition, deficiencies, imbalances and dysfunctions, and pattern of or existing disease.
Single Tests and Testing Profiles Available
There are single tests and testing profiles. For example, one of the female saliva hormone profiles for a woman in menopause, or who has had a hysterectomy, includes six individual saliva tests, the three estrogens, progesterone, testosterone and DHEA.
Note: when obtaining blood testing for medical purposes, your physician may order from 16 to 25 blood tests in their profile. At Advanced Clinical Nutrition, we order 44 different blood chemistries in our profile. Due to insurance and Medicare cut-backs and new regulations, physicians no longer order the comprehensive blood chemistry profile (44 blood tests), as they did years ago. However, we do.
Most Frequently Ordered Tests
The most frequently ordered tests and analysis for blood, urine, saliva, stool and tissue mineral hair specimens are listed on the web page, titled: LABORATORY TESTS.
Under the title of each frequently ordered Laboratory Test is a list of the:
tests in each profile.
nutritional symptoms that can be experienced when these specimens are deficient in the vitamins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes, co-factors, or any nutrient required to promote biochemical balance and organ/gland function and/or
disease-patterns, which may progress to a disease-state (or stage) as a result of long-term deficiencies, imbalances and dysfunctions in these specimens.
Innate Function of Blood
Before providing an Analogy to help you understand the difference between what blood compared to urine, saliva, hair or stool specimens reveals about your body, it is important to understand the innate function, contents and quality of the blood, and that is:
to transport nutrients (vitamins, proteins, etc.) directly to and feed the cells; then remove its waste. However, nutrients can be in the blood, and not get into the cells and cellular/tissue waste can be in the blood and not be eliminated from the body. The Body Composition Analysis is a one of the scientific tests we use to determine whether nutrients are getting to your cells and waste is being eliminated, or not.)
the quality and quantity of the nutrients in the blood (whether deficient or excessive) directly affect the health and function of the cells and tissues (positively or negatively)
toxicity affects the quality of the blood. Toxicity from chemicals or heavy metals, such as ingesting chemicals from food additives, artificial sweeteners, cigarettes/cigars, drugs, etc., or from exposures, such as getting too much copper from bathing or drinking tap water from old household copper plumbing, or mercury from fillings in your teeth.
A Nutritional Interpretation Differs From A Medical Interpretation of Laboratory Tests
Though you may have no abnormal blood chemistry, according to a medical interpretation of your blood chemistry tests; the same blood tests often have multiple abnormal blood chemistry, according to a nutritional interpretation, which identifies deficiencies, imbalances and dysfunctions as they progress towards, but have not yet reached the disease stage.
It is only at the disease stage that your physician has been trained to identify possible causes for your symptoms. Again, symptoms can feel the same, regardless of what stage they are in, as they progress towards or when they have reached the disease stage.
This is why a clinical nutritional analysis of laboratory tests is the first step towards preventive health care.
Medical Exams and Test Results Normal?
Have you or someone you know received extensive medical examinations and blood testing, where the results were normal and, therefore, no "medical" cause could be found for your symptoms? Though this is good news, i.e., you do not have a disease, it can leave both the physician and the patient without any answers as to what is really causing the patient's symptoms.
Also, because a medical interpretation of your blood chemistry is different from a nutritional interpretation, a clinical nutrition analysis can provide answers not found in a medical interpretation. Remember that symptoms of nutritional deficiencies, biochemical imbalances and organ/gland dysfunctions, all of which precedes disease, can feel the same as they will feel when they progress to the disease stage.
Nutritional Testing Will Answer Questions, such as:
Am I truly Healthy? or simply symptom free at this stage of progression towards disease?
Since my medical tests are normal, indicating I am currently disease free, what is really causing my symptoms? In other words, what vitamin/mineral deficiencies, biochemical imbalances and/or organ/gland dysfunctions are causing my symptoms, now that I know they are not caused by a disease?
Am I currently in any disease pattern? Knowing this allows you to improve your health and, thus, reverse this pattern, not allowing it to continue to progress towards the disease stage. Remember that a medical interpretation of your blood or other tests will reveal when you have reached the disease stage, not that you are currently in the progression towards the disease.
Is Toxicity affecting my body's ability to heal itself?
How malnourished is my body?and which specific nutrient deficiencies (vitamins, minerals, amino acids, proteins, carbohydrates, fats/oils, etc.) and biochemical imbalances do I need to correct to improve organ/gland function and prevent disease?
Analogy of the Use of Blood, Saliva and Hair in Nutritional Testing
The Blood is like all the employees on the Payroll of a large corporation. Whereas, the urine, saliva, and stool could be compared to how many of the total number of employees are actually at work at the present time.
The minerals identified in the tissue of the hair are like the messengers who transports the corporation's product to the public and provides feedback from the public regarding their satisfaction -- is the product working or not.
With an assessment of the minerals in your hair, and the hormones in your saliva, for example, you know how sufficient the staff is (do you have enough workers on the job? how functional they are in performing their duties? and is the product working that they are producing? In other words, are your nutrients sufficient in the cells and tissue, and whether the organs and glands related to these cells/tissues are productive and functioning. Therefore, a Tissue Mineral Analysis of your hair is important to order with the saliva, urine or stool test. Saliva, Urine, Stool and Hair Are Cellular Tests, Blood Is Not
Saliva, urine, stool and hair specimens are testing nutrient deficiencies, biochemical imbalances and organ/gland dysfunctions at a cellular level.
Blood nourishes the cells and tissue, thus it is not a cellular test. Also, because blood nourishes the cells and tissue, the body will do everything it can to keep the blood as healthy as possible, even if it has to rob the cells and tissue of its nutrients and transport them to the blood.
This is why, in medicine, physicians have always used blood as their first and primary diagnostic tool. If the blood is sick, the whole body is sick as the cells and tissue have become too deficient to supply nutrients to the cells, and the body breaks down and becomes diseased.
Therefore, testing at the cellular level provides insight into the state of health years and years before it can be observed in the blood, which means saliva, urine, stool and hair testing can give you answers that blood cannot.
Additionally, early stages of the progression of illness and disease, is better observed in saliva, urine, stool and hair specimens, than the blood.
More Than One Test May Be Needed To Identify Causes
To truly understand the full scope of one's nutritional biochemistry and all possible root causes for the current state of one's nutritional health (or ill health), you may need a Clinical Nutrition Analysis of the Laboratory tests from a variety of specimens of the body. In other words, a hair and saliva test, or hair and urine, or hair and stool, or saliva, hair and urine, etc., depending the specimens that must be tested to identify causes for your symptoms.
Comprehensive Clinical Nutrition Analysis
If you have never had a clinical nutrition analysis of your biochemistry, it is prudent to get a comprehensive evaluation. This would include testing and analysis of blood, saliva hormone (male/female) and hair.
Not sure if you want to or can invest in the cost of these tests? First read these two web pages Poor Health Costs? and Nutrition Saves and Pays! Then if you still think your current financial budget does not make it possible for all three to be included in your initial clinical nutrition assessment, Dr. Smith will prioritize them for you, so you can obtain one each month. This way, within three months, you will have a comprehensive clinical nutrition analysis of your biochemistry.
Early Detection is Not The Same As Preventive Disease/Health Care
Medical advertisement has been effective in emphasizing the importance of an annual medical examination and blood tests for "early detection." Early detection means you came in for testing early enough for your physician to diagnosis that you have a disease. Early detection is not the same as prevention of the disease. Preventive Disease or Health Care is what we do atAdvanced Clinical Nutrition. Our clinical nutrition analysis will identify when you are in a pattern of disease so you have the time to correct the deficiencies, imbalances and organ/gland dysfunctions before they progress to the disease stage.
Therefore, an annual clinical nutrition analysis of your biochemistry is as important as your annual medical examination and blood chemistry. You can even save money by submitting the laboratory reports from your annual medical check-up for an annual clinical nutrition interpretation or analysis.
Our Clinical Nutrition Services are the true definition of "preventive" health care.
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THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS WEB SITE IS NOT PROVIDED TO PRESCRIBE OR TREAT MEDICAL CONDITIONS! Nutritional Testing, Analysis and Health Improvement Programs are designed to raise nutrient levels to balance body chemistry and promote proper organ and gland function. It is not provided for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical disease, disorder or condition. The information provided in this website is for nutritional educational purposes, and to provide practical application of alternative, holistic and integrated whole food, vitamin, mineral, herbal and homeopathic medicine. Prices may change without notice. Current Prices will be charged. Services by mail order, e-mail, and telephone consultations. The policies of Advanced Clinical Nutrition apply to all web pages.
The articles and educational information in this website are timeless. Please note that the address and Dr. Smith's Ph.D. needs to be updated, the Nutrition Report autoresponder is not working and the SEND button on some questionnaires are not functioning. Those who are subscribers to our HealthQuest e-News will be notified when our WomenSportsNutrition.com website has been undated. Thank you for your patience.
Copyright 2004 Dr. Donna F. Smith, Ph.D. A.C.N. Website Updated (06/18/09)