COMPREHENSIVE DIAGNOSTIC EVALUATION

What you say with regard to both your present and past medical history and symptoms is usually the most important clues in your overall health assessment with the doctor. Every disease has a root cause, and it is our responsibility to put the pieces of the puzzle together to find this information. Once this is determines, a proper healing plan/protocol can be best individualized to meet your specific needs. 

In addition, diagnostic tools (laboratory tests), such as, blood, salivary, stool and hair testing, as well as imaging (X-rays, CT-scans, MRIs, etc) when necessary, are often used to assist in your overall health status (see below). However, there isn't any one test that is 100% conclusive in determining the cause of a health condition.

This is why it is so important for a physician to listen to what the patient says. take good notes, and to conduct a thorough, yet pertinent physical examination to both help determine the root cause of your health condition, as well as the best treatment plan/course of action to facilitate true healing.

Keep in mind that a diet of foods that is good for one person may be toxic to the next person. But before we can determine the type of dietary plan that best works specifically for you, we must answer a very important question, what is the difference between food allergies and food sensitivities?  To start, food sensitivities are not allergies.  A food allergy is an immune system reaction to a protein in a particular food which your body perceives as a foreign invader.  Food allergies are driven by a hypersensitive immune system that is considered an Immunoglobulin E (IgE) mediated reaction.  A reaction can trigger internal inflammation within the body, including mucus gland secretions.  Food allergies usually develop within minutes of eating a particular offending food.  When a person has a strong food allergy, this can develop into an emergency situation due to its ability to produce anaphylactic shock.

Food sensitivities, even in the strongest reaction, do not produce anaphylactic shock, and are not an immediate emergency. The effects of food sensitivities happen over time, usually over a course of hours to a few days, and can be subtle at first in many people. With food sensitivities, the body has difficulty digesting particular food(s), which could result in maldigestion (not being able to properly digest your foods), in addition to toxic substances forming in the intestines, and then absorbed into the blood. These toxins can then travel to a weakened areas in your body. This leads to low grade chronic inflammation, and eventually interferes with normal body function. This is the basis for chronic disease. 

Inflammation is the result of an internal reaction due to injury, infection, autoimmune state, and other conditions, and is not only caused by blunt force. Even the kinds of foods and chemicals in the foods that we eat, as well as the liquids that we drink and the medications that we take in, can cause inflammation.  Short-lived inflammation is good, in that it is protective to the body.  But, it can also be a bad thing as well.  When inflammation is chronic, it can cause damage to the tissues that it affects.  Inflammation can develop into disease if allowed to become chronic.  At the Center for Natural Health, we use specific tests to help determine the presence of inflammation, as well as its response to treatment.  One example of these tests is a blood test marker called erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR).  ESR is an effective test for inflammation, although there are other non-specific and specific markers that we can use to help determine the presence of inflammation and disease.

An assessment of Gastrointestinal Function, Cellular Energy Production, Neurotransmitter Processing, and Vitamin and Mineral Cofactor roles in Organic Acid Metabolism is important to your overall health.  As Hippocrates, considered the Father of Western Medicine, said, “All disease begins in the gut.”  With this in mind, we conduct this test to analyze digestive processes.  A digestive tract that isn’t functioning properly will not be able to break down and metabolize the specific nutrients we need to live a healthy life.  A deficiency in any of the nutrients can be associated with specific chronic systemic complaints, including fatigue, mood disorders, headaches, muscle and joint pains, and many other possible diseased states.

Optimum health depends on proper balance of fats in the diet.  At The Center for Natural Health, we test for essential fatty acids due to their important involvement in cellular communication (between cells) and inflammatory disorders.  This test includes Omega-3, Omega-6, and Omega-9 fatty acids, in addition to monounsaturated fats (Omega-7 fats and Trans fat), and saturated fatty acids.  Testing for these essentials allows us to correct imbalances associated with many conditions, for example cardiovascular disease and other inflammatory conditions.

In today’s world heavy metals are all around us, making it easier now than ever before in acquiring a toxic load that is very troublesome to our bodies.  Once in your body, toxins tend to accumulate (they don’t usually break down on their own), making long-term exposure a concern to your overall health.   Heavy metal toxicity has been associated with numerous health concerns, including central nervous system dysfunction, fatigue, damage to; blood composition, lungs, liver, kidneys, muscular dysfunction, and autoimmune disorders, among other issues.

Heavy metals should not be in your body.  When a positive test is confirmed, treatment should be started.  At the Center for Natural Health, we use various testing methods to screen for heavy metal toxicity, including urine, hair, and blood.  Any of these tests can be used by itself or in combination to confirm the presence of heavy metals and to track your progress during treatment.  We use safe and gentle methods to help naturally eliminate heavy metals from the body.

The adrenal glands are located on top of each kidney.  They produce a number of important hormones, including cortisol, aldosterone, adrenaline, DHEA, and small amounts of sex hormones called androgens and estrogens, among others. These hormones have a number of responsibilities, including controlling blood sugar, burning protein and fat, assisting in regulating blood pressure, and reacting to stressors (mentally and physically), for example anxiety and fright, as well as major illness or injury.   One hormone of clinical significance is epinephrine, also called adrenaline.  Adrenaline is known as one of your fight or flight hormones.  They are responsible for increasing your body’s blood pressure by constricting your blood vessels, while doing the opposite in your lungs (helping you breath better by dilating your blood vessels so you can get more oxygen to your blood and to the rest of your body).  In additional, these hormones cause blood flow to minimize to all your other organs, including your digestive system.  The purpose is to help you become completely alert and have an abundance of quick energy to allow you to either protect yourself or to run away in a dangerous confrontation.  Unfortunately, our body’s response doesn’t know the difference between an actual dangerous situation and emotional stressors, such as work or anxiety.   Your body still registers it all as stress.  Its response is always to increase adrenaline and other stress hormones.  The significance of constant emotional stress placed on your body can lead to various issues, including poor digestion, adrenal fatigue or chronic fatigue, weight gain, strain on your thyroid gland, strain on your heart, and a number of other health issues.  Adding to this is the increased production of another hormone called cortisol.  It also is increased in response to stressors.  Elevated cortisol can lead to increased blood sugar levels, weight gain, and other health issues.

We can learn a lot of information regarding health through both the tongue and the nails.  Both are very informative and are indicative of health and disease in the body, including helping to determine specific nutritional deficiencies, as well as regions/organs of the body that are either developing acute disease or a long-standing chronic disease.  Our body talks to us in so many ways, we just have to listen to it and look for the signs that it presents to us.

It is said that the eyes are the gateway to the soul.  In medicine, we see them as a reflection of the body’s overall health.  An analysis of the iris (colored area of the eyes) can demonstrate strengths and weaknesses within the body, and what has developed through incorrect or unhealthy living.  Iridology is an evolving science that has been studied for over 100 years.

pH is a measurement of acidity and alkalinity.  It is very important to monitor the body's acid-alkaline balance because an imbalance can be associate with disease. Our bodies on average are slightly alkaline, measuring around 7.4 pH.  It’s important for most of the body to be in this range to function properly.   One exception is in the stomach, which needs to remain acidic to help in the digestive process of proteins and other parts of foods.  When the body is too far outside of a healthy range, it can demonstrate internal inflammation, cellular damage, and disease.  Acidity has been associated with weight gain, fatigue, allergies, asthma, congestion, skin issues, muscles and joint pain, and headaches, to name a few.  At The Center for Natural Health, we test the acid-alkaline levels with every new patient to help us establish a baseline prior to any treatment.  We do find it important to check it periodically throughout your treatment to monitor your progress.  We also use urine to test you body's acid-alkaline level.

Blood pressure screening can be an important sign that your body uses to signal a health issue. It can present as hypertension (high blood pressure) or hypotension (low blood pressure). Once one of these issues occur, it's important to immediately find and correct the imbalance in your body which lead to its occurrence.