Learning more about your health
Appointments can be booked to order labs without the full initial intake and past medical history. This would be for someone that knows what type of test they would like to have done and does not want to pursue treatment. A 15-minute appointment will provide time for questions and clarification regarding the appropriate tests to order. When results are available, another 15-minute appointment is scheduled for a full naturopathic analysis of the results and to answer questions. No treatment is offered during these visits, however at any time a first visit can be scheduled and treatment started. The full schedule of tests is available for lab only bookings.
For a list of sample reports and tests please click here.
Enhanced thyroid assessment
Testing 4 thyroid hormones and 2 auto-immune thyroid antibodies gives a more complete thyroid analysis than standard testing. Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) is conventionally used as a thyroid screening to indicate hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism. However, subclinical hypothyroidism, cellular hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis require more in-depth testing to diagnose. Measuring levels of TSH, Free T4, Free T3, Reverse T3, anti-thyroglobulin antibodies and anti-thyroperoxidase antibodies will allow for a deeper analysis and lead to targeted treatment. These tests are all performed at a local laboratory in a single blood draw. Testing should be performed fasting, in the morning and no thyroid medication consumed before the test. For more details about thyroid testing, please visit the Thyroid Testing page.
Healthy living assessment
Lifelabs has put together a 35 + blood test panel which gives an excellent overview of where your health stands. The aptly named “Healthy Living Assessment” is a quick and easy way to evaluate, nutrients, electrolytes, liver, kidney and gall bladder function as well as blood sugar and cholesterol markers. When a Naturopathic Physician evaluates laboratory findings, we look for optimal ranges as opposed to just the reference ranges. Reference ranges look at a wide scope to rule-out disease. But what about where the best place to be in the range is? This is optimal.
Let’s look at iron levels for example. The best representation of iron storage is measured by ferritin. The reference range for an adult female is 15 – 225 ug/L, over 200 points! If ferritin is below 15, it is considered too low and labelled as low iron or iron deficiency. What if the level is 25? The optimal ferritin level for women is around 100 ug/L, so it becomes obvious that looking only at the reference range could lead to undiagnosed low iron.
Naturopathic Physicians also look outside of the box at labs and symptoms. The enzyme alkaline phosphatase is commonly tested to assess liver function and bone metabolism. The traditional concern is when this enzyme is elevated above the reference range. But what if it is below the range? Often this is ignored and classified as insignificant. If you look at the biochemistry of how alkaline phosphatase is made, zinc is found to be a significant cofactor – in fact it cannot be made efficiently without it. Thus low levels indicate a zinc deficiency. Clinical signs of zinc deficiency are white spots on nails, reduced senses of taste and smell, acne and frequent colds and flus. Correlating symptoms and laboratory findings together helps to determine which dietary changes and supplements should be included or excluded. If warranted, zinc can be an add on test to the healthy living profile.
To view a sample healthy living assessment, click HERE. A sample report of the enhanced living assessment which includes additional markers such as Vitamin D levels can be viewed HERE.