You are not simply healthy or sick, black or white, there are many grey layers to health dysfunctions and pathologies. We have three ways to diagnose dysfunctions - blood work, saliva testing, and hair testing.

 

The very earliest test that will show a positive result when dysfunction has begun is the hair analysis - this will be positive when saliva and blood are all normal. The doctors like hair testing to detect these subtle indicators of dysfunction that are arising in the body, and work to reverse these patterns with nutritional supplements, lifestyle changes, diet changes, chiropractic care, exercise, etc. Retesting shows if the intervention is effective.

 

If the health dysfunction is more progressed, the hair analysis will be positive, but now we start to see changes on saliva testing - hormones (except thyroid) are tested via the saliva.

 

Lastly, when the dysfunction has progressed further, blood work will now begin to show positive results. The doctors at Geneva Chiropractic Clinic are trained to diagnose blood work two different ways. The first way is the standard, medical way of seeing if each test result falls within the laboratory's normal range - when the test is out of range, conditions can be diagnosed and treated appropriately. The second way is utilizing what is referred to as "optimum" ranges - the normal range for each test is tightened up and a test that was considered normal in the laboratory range could be outside of the optimum range, indicating dysfunction that is treatable.

 

1. HAIR MINERAL ANALYSIS: A sample of recent hair growth is taken from the back of the head and analyzed by the laboratory for prominent minerals. Ratios of minerals indicate dysfunction in the adrenals, thyroid, blood sugar, and nervous system. Toxic metals are also  analyzed - mercury, aluminum, nickle, etc. Specific nutritional support is prescribed based on these results. Retesting is indicated in 3-6 months to check effectiveness of nutritional intervention.

 

2. SALIVA HORMONE TESTING: The doctors prefer to test your hormone status on saliva rather than a blood test (except for the thyroid). Hormones exist in two states in the body - bound/inactive and unbound/active. The hormones tested from a blood sample are a combination of both types and do not give a good picture of the active hormone status. Saliva hormone testing measures only the active hormone, that which is having effects in your body. Using saliva also has the benefit for ease of serial hormone measurements. Many of the saliva hormone tests are collected either many times within one day or every few days over a month. It would be inconvenient and painful to have that many blood tests!

 

3. BLOODWORK: Geneva Chiropractic Clinic has developed with their lab a special profile of blood tests that we call The Executive Profile. This is a great once a year blood test to detect areas that need attention. This profile includes: sugar, cholesterol, liver, kidneys, electrolytes, a blood count, thyroid, vitamin D, and an inflammation marker. These tests can also be done individually as well. Other specialized blood tests are also available and may be recommended by your doctor, such as prostate, rheumatoid or lupus testing, thyroid antibodies, viral studies, etc.

 

4. FOOD ALLERGY TESTING: A 90 food allergy panel is available and is done on blood. Another option is for the doctors to muscle test you on foods that you suspect you may be sensitive to. Talk with your doctor about what may be right for you.