How does Functional Medicine lab testing differ from traditional blood work, as done by my physician?
When a traditional physician runs standard blood work, they are looking for an already established disease process. Generally action is taken only when the lab results are out of the normal range. The trouble with this is that many people might not have an actual disease yet, but they are suffering from chronic symptoms already. Why wait until damage has been done? Functional medicine lab testing aims to prevent disease before it happens by assessing patterns of imbalance that without intervention will end up yielding chronic disease.
Laboratory testing is an integral and essential part of your work up at the Moday Center. It helps us get a clear picture of your unique physiology and guides our treatment plan.
Why doesn’t my insurance always cover these tests?
Insurance companies base their coverage on diagnosis codes for established disease processes. They are happy to cover cardiac surgeries, and expensive procedures and hospitalizations but often won’t cover innovative testing that can save the patients and insurers millions of dollars. Upon request, we can provide a “superbill” for you to provide to your insurance. We DO NOT submit to insurance directly.
These are the tests that we routinely use to evaluate our patients.
- Comprehensive Stool Analysis. Assessing gut function is a pillar of all function health programs. The test looks for markers of inflammation and malabsorption making it an essential test for those with IBS, inflammatory bowel disease, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, autoimmune issues and weight problems.
- Micronutrient Testing. Nutritional deficiencies are often at the root of many chronic diseases and symptoms such as mood disorders, depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, fibromyalgia, and fatigue, diabetes, and heart disease. It can also be used to optimize health and fitness for athletes.
- Adrenal Stress Profile. This test is a measure of an individual’s response to stress. It is also an important tool for pointing to adrenal imbalances that may be impacting a patient’s health in the forms of fatigue, mood disorders and autoimmune disease.
- Organic Acid Testing. Provides a view into the body’s cellular metabolic processes and the efficiency of metabolic function. Organic acids are metabolic intermediates that are produced in pathways of central energy production, detoxification, neurotransmitter breakdown, or intestinal microbial activity.
- Comprehensive Hormone Testing. For both women and men throughout all stages of life, these tests will help to evaluate the balance of hormone levels in the body to help direct use appropriate support of supplements, bio-identical hormone therapy, and lifestyle recommendations.
- Advanced Celiac Profile. Celiac disease is an immune mediated response to gluten in wheat and other grains that affects not only the gastrointestinal tract but may be related to other body symptoms. Standard Celiac screening only picks up patients with full blown celiac disease and tissue damage but often miss many patients with gluten sensitivity causing other symptoms.
- Advanced Cardiometabolic Testing. Traditional cholesterol testing is not adequate to assess an individual’s true risk factor for heart disease. Advanced cardiometabolic testing can reveal these risk factors and direct preventive care.
- Heavy Metal/Essential Element Testing. We live in a very toxic world where we encounter chemical and toxins on a daily basis. Evidence suggests that chronic toxic element exposure can adversely affect: energy levels, reproductive function, cancer risk of all kinds, neurological development and function, respiratory, cardiac, liver, and immune functions, cognitive and emotional health and degenerative conditions.
- Food Sensitivity Testing. This test measures levels of IgG antibodies specific to anywhere from 30-200 foods causing patient reactions. IgG antibodies are associated with “non-allergic” or “delayed” food reactions that can worsen or contribute to many health conditions. It may also indicate the presence of leaky gut syndrome and other digestive issues.