If my blood test is OK – why don’t I feel OK? Why functional pathology testing can be useful. BY DIANA ARUNDELL, UNIVERSITY QUALIFIED NATUROPATH AND NUTRITIONIST
It makes sense that when we are unwell, we take a trip to the doctor and based on the discussion, the doctor may/ may not wish to request a blood test for further information. At times, a great line of questioning and physical examination may be sufficient for a physician to diagnose and at other times, further investigations such as blood tests, scans etc are required to confirm or establish a diagnosis. Blood tests can be very useful however information is limited to what is being tested and what the actual
B.H.Sc (comp medicine) B.A., N.D., Dip. Nut, D.R.M.
results are being compared to. There are many parameters to consider when reviewing blood tests and just because abnormalities don’t show up in the blood, doesn’t mean nothing is wrong and the person in question is imagining feeling unwell. This is where orthodox medical practitioners and naturopaths may have differing opinions on a patient’s blood work. For example, TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) is often the basic go to for assessing general thyroid function. However, TSH indicates what the brain is telling the thyroid to do rather than accurately indicating actual thyroid output or function. Thyroid output is more indicated by levels of free T4, T3 and reverse T3. It is possible for TSH to be in ‘normal range’ but thyroid output to be sitting at an outer end of normal range and subclinical disease to be present and vice versa. Subclinical disease may show up as results ‘within’ the parameters but closer to the out limits of the reference range. For example; a person may present with thyroid symptoms, even if their thyroid output markers are ‘normal’ but their TSH may be at the outer end of the ‘normal’ range suggesting that the thyroid is starting to struggle. In this instance it makes sense to try and prevent disease progressing rather than wait for blood test markers to be ‘out of range’ before treatment commences.
Nutrition Herbal Medicine Fertility Management Children’s Health Wellness Programs 0410 465 900 avocanaturopath.com.au naturopathdiana@gmail.com nutrition and wellness | herbal medicine | fertility | children’s health B.H.Sc (comp medicine) B.A., N.D, Dip. Nut, D.R.M. 118 Avoca Drive, Kincumber
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Prevention is easier than cure with regards to most health conditions. Another issue with blood test results is the issue of what we are comparing a ‘healthy normal’ to. Generally speaking blood test parameters are taken from 95% of the population and really, is 95% of our population healthy? We just need to look around and observe our population to see this is not the case. Another issue with these parameters is that the goal posts are continually changing to match 95% of the population. Rather than asking what has happened to our diet and lifestyle to affect changes in our pathology results across the board, the goal posts are changed to accommodate a new normal. Many naturopaths focus more on functional pathology testing rather than just blood tests as sometimes deficiencies in nutrients, hormones and neurotransmitters etc can be difficult to accurately measure in the blood.
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Prevention is easier than cure with regards to most health conditions The blood is a tightly regulated system and the body’s intelligence runs a very tight ship to ensure homeostasis and parameters of the blood such as
