The Adrenocortex Stress Profile is a powerful and precise non-invasive test that evaluates levels of the body's important stress hormones, cortisol and DHEA. This profile serves as a critical tool for uncovering biochemical imbalances that can underlie anxiety, chronic fatigue, obesity, diabetes and a host of other clinical conditions. It's also a crucial tool for monitoring DHEA and/or cortisone therapy.

Changing amounts of DHEA and cortisol over an individual's lifetime may signal important alterations in adrenal function that can profoundly affect his/her energy levels, emotional state, disease resistance, and general sense of well-being. That's because adrenal hormones exert a profound influence on the body's carbohydrate, protein, and lipid metabolism, immune response, thyroid function, cardiovascular health, and overall resistance to stress.

Menopause is normal and natural. It is your body changing and maturing. But unfortunately, it is perceived by many women only as an ominous midlife challenge. There is a common misconception that "the change" begins a time of inevitable and prolonged discomfort and a declining quality of life. The reality is that menopause only marks the end of your childbearing years. You are entering a phase of life when your body's energy shifts from a monthly preoccupation with possible childbirth to maintaining a steady state of energy focused on supporting you alone. In a healthy state there should be plenty of energy available to support an active, productive, and inspired life. The Menopause Profile can detect WHY menopause is a problem for you.

The Comprehensive Thyroid Assessment is a thorough analysis of thyroid hormone metabolism, including central thyroid gland regulation and activity, thyroid production and secretion, peripheral thyroid conversion, and thyroid autoimmunity. This test allows the practitioner to pinpoint common imbalances that underlie a broad spectrum of chronic illness.

Thyroid hormones are essential and primary regulators of the body's metabolism. Imbalances can affect virtually every metabolic process in the body, exerting significant effects on mood and energy level. Thyroid function has a profound impact on overall health via its modulation of carbohydrate, protein, and fat metabolism, vitamin utilization, mitochondrial function, digestive process, muscle and nerve activity, blood flow, oxygen utilization, hormone secretion, sexual and reproductive health, and many other physiological parameters.

I often tell my patients that the gastrointestinal tract is much like a carburetor in a car. Your digestive tract tract must take gasoline (your food), and then mix it with air (enzymes and other digestive juices). If this mixing process goes well, your car runs and doesn't cough or sputter. How efficiently your fuel burns determines to a large extent how many years you're going to get out of your car. Although a rather crude analogy, this principle does hold true for the human digestive tract. There are many points along the digestive where some "burning" process can go awry and cause seemingly unrelated problems elsewhere in the body. This article will discuss those various places and give you a very good detail of what can go wrong.

The Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis (CDSA) is the original non- invasive evaluation of gastrointestinal function that includes analyses of digestion, absorption, bacterial balance, yeast and parasites. This profile is recommended for patients with diffuse and non-specific GI-related symptoms, such as indigestion, dysbiosis (imbalance of the normal bacteria with bacterial overgrowth), constipation, and diarrhea.

Gastrointestinal disorders have a major impact on health. One recent study found that during a three-month period nearly 70% of American households experienced one or more gastrointestinal symptom.

The Vaginosis Profile from Great Smokies Diagnostic Laboratory is one of the most comprehensive evaluations available. It features microscopy for every sort of organism by trained and experienced technicians with an advanced DNA probe for the most common causes of the condition. With a rapid, semiautomated DNA probe test to definitively identify clinically significant levels of Gardnerella, and Trichomonas, detection rates for these organisms can reach levels of 90% and greater in properly transported specimens.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome has been closely tied to immune system dysfunctions that trigger hypersensitivity to food and environmental allergens. Because a constant, sensitized immune response can provoke chronic and disabling symptoms of fatigue, chronic fatigue syndrome patients typically display a much higher prevalence of allergy. In fact, studies have found that simply having a history of allergy/asthma significantly increases the likelihood that individual will eventually develop chronic fatigue.

Because symptoms may not show up for hours or even days after exposure to an allergen, it is extremely difficult to identify the offending substance(s) without proper testing. With accurate identification, however, allergic sensitivities that cause fatigue can often be treated very effectively. One study found that implementing dietary changes based on existing food allergies produced a complete remission of symptoms in 86% of patients with allergic tension-fatigue.6

The Comprehensive Antibody Assessment identifies both immediate (IgE) and delayed hypersensitivities (IgG) to over 120 commonly encountered food and environmental substances.

Celiac disease is defined as a genetic, immune mediated enteropathy of the small bowel that results in malabsorption. The disease is characterized by sensitivity to the proteins found in wheat, and to a lesser extent, barley and rye. The National Institutes of Health reported in August of 2004 that the prevalence of Celiac Disease is much greater than previous estimates, possibly affecting as many as 3 million Americans, indicating that the disease is widely under recognized.

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The Essential and Metabolic Fatty Acids Analysis evaluates the level of red cell membrane or plasma fatty acids, imbalances which significantly affect inflammatory and other disorders. By knowing the various fatty acid levels, one can reestablish a balance using nutritional intervention.

This test examines fasting blood or 24-hour urine samples for 40+ amino acids. Results can provide valuable biochemical information about many disorders, including chronic fatigue, learning disabilities, depression and immune problems.

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