Diagnostic Testing
Get Concrete Answers to Your Health Questions
Specialty Diagnostic Testing
We need to ask the right questions to get answers. Rather than treating illness we treat foundational causes. And what we know about the foundational causes is exploding with new information. We get down to that foundation through diagnostic testing.
- Micronutrient Panel
- Cardiovascular Panel
- Hormone and Neurotransmitter Panel
- Food Allergy and Sensitivity Panels
- Toxic and Essential Elements Panels
- Stool Analysis and Parasitology
- Gut Microbiome Panel
- Functional Genomic Testing
- Thyroid Panel
“This test is the cornerstone of my practice. This tests the nutrients in the body to see the levels in the blood and inside the cells. When I know which nutrients are low then I have a starting point that is specific to each patient.”
Dr. Heidi Hook
Vitamin, mineral and antioxidant deficiencies have been shown to suppress the functions of the immune system which can contribute to the overall condition of one’s health and diseases such as: Arthritis, Cancer, Cardiovascular disease and Diabetes, just to name a few.
Even if you eat a balanced diet and take a multivitamin, there may be many reasons that your body is still deficient: absorption, chronic illness, lifestyle or aging may all be contributing factors to a deficiency.
Click here to purchase your own Micronutrient kit and see what deficiencies you may have and what you can do. You can also visit the Vibrant America Laboratories website to learn more about the testing.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) commonly called heart disease refers to health issues with the heart and blood vessels. These health issues can lead to blood clots, blocked arteries, chest pain, heart attack, stroke, acute heart failure, disability and even death.
For most people, heart disease is preventable and reversible with lifestyle choice changes and proper supplements. Did you know that 50% of patients who suffer from a heart attack have normal LDL (“bad” cholesterol levels) or that 1 in 3 Americans suffer from some sort of cardiovascular disease? Knowing the information before any issues arise, can save your life.
Click here to purchase your own cardiovascular test kit. You can also visit the PULS website to learn more.
We also offer a comprehensive metabolic panel through either Labcorp or Vibrant America that includes Homocystein, Hemoglobin A1C, Insulin, Lipid panel, C-reactive protein, C-Peptide, Lipoprotein and more.
Hormones are powerful molecules essential for maintaining physical and mental health.
Often we think of estrogen as being a female hormone, and testosterone as being a male hormone. But men AND women make both, plus several more that need to be in balance for optimum health.
An imbalance of any one hormone can throw your physical and mental health out of balance, causing aggravating and even serious health problems. Unbalanced hormones can cause such symptoms as insomnia, depression, mood swings, night sweats, low or no sex drive, heart health, mental clarity and focus and many more.
Your hormones are like your fingerprints and in order to achieve optimal health, you need to know what your specific imbalances are. Testing through saliva rather than through blood offers a much clearer picture of how your hormones fluctuate throughout a day, rather than just one moment in time.
Click here to purchase a saliva or urine hormone kit to find out if you have imbalances. You can visit the Labrix Clinical Services to learn more about saliva testing for neurotransmitters of DUTCH to learn more about the dried urine testing for hormone balancing.
“You are what you eat.”
As many times as we have heard that saying, there is a lot of truth to it. Sensitivities to food and food-chemicals can be involved in a wide array of painful symptoms and chronic health problems.
Sensitivities are a type of inflammatory reactions that is entirely different than food allergy and most doctors are unaware they are different. If foods and additives in your diet are contributing to your illness, whatever medications you take will ultimately fail because they only mask the symptoms. They don’t treat the underlying cause of the symptoms – hidden inflammation caused by sensitivity reactions to foods and food-chemicals.
We offer testing of 170 different food and food chemical profiles. All of these panels include the major sensitivity screenings: gluten, wheat, soy, and nut sensitivities.
Click here to purchase your own Food Sensitivity kit or Click here to visit Oxford Biomedical Technologies to learn more about this type of LEAP testing.
As humans are exposed to millions of toxins everyday. Whether it is in the food we eat, the lotions we put on our skin, metals in our fillings, or even the air we breathe, toxins are everywhere.
Click here to learn more about testing for toxic elements.
This panel helps pinpoint the causes of gastrointestinal symptoms and chronic systemic conditions, and measures key markers of digestion, absorption and inflammation. It contains comprehensive bacteriology and yeast cultures to identify the presence of beneficial flora, imbalanced flora including Clostridium species, and dysbiotic flora, as well as the detection of infectious pathogens and parasites by PCR and other gold standard methods.
Antimicrobial susceptibility testing to prescriptive and natural agents is also performed for appropriate cultured bacterial and fungal species at no additional charge.
Parasitology testing can include one-, two- or three-day collection.
“I love this because it looks at so many things. It looks at parasites and fungus, intestinal viruses, antibiotic resistance, dysbiosis in the large intestine but also that could be impacting the small intestine and contribute to SIBO (which is very hard to find in one test). It also looks at immune reactivity markers which could give an idea of food sensitivity susceptibility, gluten reactivity, intestinal permeability, bile acid metabolites, inflammatory and digestive markers, fat absorption, short chain fatty acid levels, occult blood, and the microbiome. It’s also much more accurate than culture so I think it’s a good value for all it offers.”
Dr. Heidi Hook
The gut microbiome resides in your large intestine and is host to more than 1000 species of bacteria that perform certain important functions from shaping the immune system to influencing metabolism of nutrients to fortifying the intestinal mucosal barrier (gut barrier).
It is important to know the abundances of the bacteria that symbiotically live in the human gastrointestinal tract because imbalances in the gut microbiome may lead to gastrointestinal symptoms, skin conditions, autoimmune disorders, immune system imbalances, and multiple inflammatory disorders.
The test performs the most comprehensive analysis available of your intestinal microbiome ecosystem from a simple one-time stool collection. This test examines the complex and intricate relative abundance of each species or genus measured, in relation to the rest of the ecosystem, to provide a unique perspective on the gut microbiome and its connection to disease and inflammation.
The Gut Zoomer report provides you with actionable recommendations that include potential risks for:
Intestinal permeability (SCFA producing bacteria and tight junction integrity), Intestinal disorders (IBS and IBD related bacteria), Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)- related bacteria, Cardiovascular health (inflammation influencing and TMAO-related bacteria), Autoimmune health (celiac, Crohn’s, rheumatoid arthritis, etc), Neurological health (MS, Parkinson’s, and more), Liver diseases (cirrhosis, hepatitis, cholangitis, and more), Metabolic health (Obesity, diabetes, etc), Nutrition (Vitamin production, oxalate metabolism), Microbiome and hormone connections (Beta-glucuronidase and Beta-glucosidase), 67 pathogenic bacteria, 24 Intestinal parasites, 8 viruses, 5 Fungal or yeast species, 5 worm species, 6 antibiotic resistance genes measured
Our genes are the “road map” to how our bodies work.
As we age or we experience stress these genes can get turned on and effect the enzymes that regulate the biochemistry. These enzymes can run faster or slower and as you can imagine can create havoc resulting in imbalance and eventually disease.
You are ½ your mom and ½ your dad, and this we can never change, but when we know which enzyme is being affected then we can either give you the enzyme that your body is having a hard time making or give you the bi-product that your body is having a hard time making, then we can change up to 70% of how it manifests.
This is what is so exciting because with a simple saliva test we can find your road map to optimal health. Click here to read more from Dr. Heidi Hook on the study of genetics.
Dr. Heidi’s custom Thyroid Panel provides the most comprehensive thyroid analysis available and tests your TSH, T3 Free, T4 Free, Thyroglobulins and Antibodies.
Thyroid is the gas pedal for your metabolism and thyroid affects every system in your body so it is crucial that all parts of your thyroid are working optimally.
Diagnostic Testing FAQs
What can I expect from a diagnostic test?
Accurate and efficient diagnostic testing is crucial for doctors to create effective treatment plans that allow us to help prevent disease and/or to support patients to recover as quickly as possible with the least amount of side effects or complications. The primary purpose of diagnostic testing is to detect a disease – preferably before it happens, its outlook, and its possibility of spread throughout the body. As Naturopathic doctors we are trained in looking at the root cause of disease and we offer many specialty testing that conventional “allopathic”doctors don’t. A Micronutrient panel, heavy metals, parasites, comprehensive gut panels, food sensitivity panel are just a few examples.
What if I made a mistake on my urine collection?
No problem. If you received a urine collection container through Doctors Data Labs, just rinse out the container and begin collection the following day. If you are using paper strips for a DUTCH test, email us and we will be happy to send you a new one.
What if I made a mistake on my saliva collection?
No problem. Rinse out the tubes and begin a new collection the next day. If the tubes cannot be used, email our office and we can send you a new kit.
What if I made a mistake on my stool collection?
No problem. You can try to rinse out the collection container, rinse it out well and begin collecting the next day.
How do I know where to get my blood drawn?
When you placed your order, you should have received an email that provide a link to get your blood drawn. We use a couple of different labs including: Vibrant America and Labcorp.
How long should I expect to wait for results?
Depending on what labs you are having done, will depend on how long they take to come back. When you placed your order you should have gotten an email letting you know the average length of time, your test results will take. The soonest would be 3-4 days and the longest (not including the DNA genetic test) is 3 weeks.
What if I buy a test kit and need interpretation?
That is what we are here for! Our doctors would love to interpret any results for you. Just go to our SHOP and click on Virtual Appointments, purchase and we will take care of the rest.
Do I get to keep copies of my test results?
Of course. Those are YOUR results. As soon as the results are in, we will notify you and give you access to those results.
How do I access my test results when they are complete?
We provide a HIPAA compliant portal that you can access your results. It is called Power2Patient.
