This is an extremely important question so I'm super glad you are reading this right now!
Conventional medical screening is generally broken down by categories using statistics based on your age, sex, demographics, and ethnicity among others factors. What that means is if you don't meet the statistical requirements for a particular test, and if you don't significantly show symptoms of acute need, it may be awhile, or never, before the correct tests are run that will help you identify an imbalance in your health. Have you ever gone to the doctor feeling tired, sluggish, and having difficulty remembering things only to be told that you are normal because your labs are "normal". Therefore, you are just fine. Must be those 5 kids of yours. Need an antidepressant?
Decreasing the time in identifying an imbalance and increasing the speed in which dis-ease is discovered and stopped is very important to reduce the likelihood of chronicity and more severity of a health condition.
Functional labs allows doctors to take a more comprehensive look at how your body is functioning. Information is often gathered from multiple systems. The information from these labs allow for more targeted treatments. Samples may include blood, stool, saliva, urine, hair and more to determine the cause of poor health. Functional lab panels may include screening for:
- Thyroid function
- Immune function
- Gastrointestinal function
- Neurological disease
- Genetic screening for MTHFR and more
- Hormone/endocrine function
- Toxicity exposure and levels
- Allergies and sensitivities
- Environmental mold
- Micronutrient levels (Vitamins, minerals, Amino acids, omega's
