Testing

Testing

What about testing?
As part of our consultation process, if relevant, I will ask you if you have had any recent blood or other tests done through your GP or privately. I will discuss this with you and explain any markers you are unsure of.

Where you've not had any recent tests done through your GP, and if we agree it could be beneficial to request some tests through your GP, I will write to them requesting some tests. It will vary between practices whether we are granted the requested tests.

Will I need private tests done?
This will depend on your individual case. Often it can be very beneficial to investigate what is going on in your body by doing more in depth testing that can only be done privately. There are many different test options from different laboratories, which can give us an idea about nutritional status, levels of inflammation, gastrointestinal health and gut mircrobiota, hormones, toxicity, cardiometabolic health, genetic polymorphisms and more. We can discuss the various options with you.

Below is some examples of testing that is available.

Some of the testing options available

We can look at the gut microbial balance, intestinal barrier gut lining health, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), gut inflammation, digestive enzymes, if there is prescence of infection and pathogenic bacteria, parasites, worms, occult blood and more.
We can test for various vitamins and minerals, such as B12, folate, vitamin D, iron markers, magnesium, iodine, zinc, calcium, potassium and more.

We can also test for organic acids in the urine, which gives us an indicator of where there is deficiency in nutrients which are co-factors in the body's processes.
We can look at stress by tesing for adrenal hormones and get your cortisol response picture.
We can also look in depth into thyroid hormones, that give us a better picture of your thyroid function which in turn affects many functions in the body. Sex hormones and conversion pathways can also be tested, for example to see if there is an oestrogen dominance picture.
We can look at your fatty acid markers, cholesteral, omega 3 index. We can also assess fatigue and energy metabolism with markers for mitochondrial function.