Functional Testing: What is functional medical testing?

Functional lab tests help determine how the body or organ is really working, or functioning, as opposed to other medical tests which measure pathological breakdown and disease. A sub-optimal functional test may indicate a need for support and treatment to re-establish homeostasis (equilibrium in the body) even though traditional testing may show everything is within the normal range

What functional testing can I do?

Hormone Testing:

Hormone testing via your General Practitioner can provide some good insight into  your hormonal profile.  However as your hormones are constantly changing (over the day, the month and the year) trying to get an accurate view in one blood test is often not enough to view the dynamism of your cylce and general health.  Along with tests your GP does, standard saliva and urine functional testing can provide additional information about your hormonal balance.

Do you suffer from any of the following?:
Functional testing for:
  • Adrenal Exhaustion
  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
  • Blood Sugar Imbalances
  • Low Blood Pressure
  • Anxiety
  • Fatigue
  • Flu Like Symptoms
  • Depression
  • Mood Swings
  • Stress
  • Seasonal Affective Disorder
  • Insomnia
  • Jet Lag
  • Menopausal Symptoms
  • Anti-Oxidant deficiency
If you have any of these symptoms simple functional hormone testing could hold the answers to the symptoms you are having, and help us to help you back to the road of health and vitality

For example, below are conditions people have and the type of  testing that may be appropriate:

  1. For fatigue and low energy, hormonal support, fibromyalgia and other conditions, a Salivary and urinary Adrenal test can be done.  This involves spitting into a small tube or doing a urine sample.  The saliva or urine, will contain traces of hormones that can be tested and matched against ‘normal’ ranges
  2. For stress and sleep issues – Coritsol and melatonin testing    
    1. Spit saliva into a tube on rising, through the day and at night to measure whether your sleep hormone is changing to sleep mode
  3. Reproductive hormone profile for fertility or menopausal changes. This is a combination of saliva and urinary testing.
    1. Menopausal risk assessment for breast lumps:
      1. This involves a urinary screen and looks at inflammatory Oestrogen patterns and their relationship to normal oestrogens in the body.  After menopause (or andropause in a male) protective oestrogen levels drop leaving a space for ‘inflammatory’ (environmental) oestrogens to bind.  This testing can be used as an early detection process to assess breast cancer risk in both males and females
    2. Fertility Profile.  These functional tests look not only at hormone levels, but auto immune markers, thyroid, stress hormone profile and a full blood picture.  Some of these tests can be done by your GP and can be discussed at the time of your appointment

Other tests are available depending on your current health issue.  Phone us to ask if you have a specific enquiry