Food Intolerance ELISA Test
The full name of this test is the “Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay”; this identifies the foods that the patient’s immune system
is reacting against. It can be assumed that if the blood develops immune complexes (IgG’s) in response to specific, normally harmless
foods, then the blood sees the food as a toxin.
Some confusion exists regarding the terms allergy, sensitivity and intolerance. I prefer
the word intolerance when dealing with IgG reactions and consider allergies are more likely to be more severe reactions (as with peanuts,
wasp stings etc.). There are five classes of immunoglobulins - IgA, IgD, IgE, IgG, and IgM. They are all antibodies present in the
blood and other tissues which defend the body against various allergens. An allergen is the trigger that initiates a patient’s allergic
response, examples being food, dust, and animal hair.
Various levels of intolerance are identified with the ELISA test and the specific
foods must be either avoided or rotated. Many foods can be eaten freely. I find the avoidance of suspect foods for 6-8 weeks followed
by the use of homoeopathic desensitising pillules and food rotation, usually allows a patient eventually to eat suspect foods without
symptoms developing.
Vitamin Measurements
Although the tests are costly, I sometimes request tests for blood vitamin levels. These include functional vitamin B1 (thiamine)
B2 (riboflavin) and B6 (pyridoxine), vitamin A, vitamin E and
vitamin C.
In addition to requesting laboratory tests, a full case history
is taken with each patient. This includes details on diet, exercise, lifestyle, employment, relationships, past health history and
treatment. Weight, blood pressure, sleep patterns, family history and current stresses are also noted.
Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis with Parasitology
Parasitic and bacterial infections of the intestine are increasing throughout the world. The symptoms include the following:
Abdominal pain and cramp
Chronic fatigue
Diarrhoea
Distention and gastritis
IBS
Low back pain
Weight loss
Arthritis
Food intolerances
Crohn’s
disease
Malabsorption
Headache
Gut dysbiosis
Summary
The groups listed above are requested to assist diagnosis and to identify the causes of chronic fatigue. Fatigue features as a major
symptom of many diseases and the severity of the symptoms of coronary heart disease, cancer, kidney failure and chronic liver and
lung disease serves to confirm the cause of the fatigue, and does not usually present problems with diagnosis. The majority of the
chronically fatigued patients who consult me have not been diagnosed, they have usually been classed as clinically depressed, or their
fatigue has been attributed to overwork, stress or the age factor.
Many of the tests that I have described are not standard hospital
tests and are therefore rarely requested by the patient’s GP. It is logical to assume that there must be a reason when a person becomes
exhausted. The object of testing for deficiencies, imbalances and malfunctions is to find the reasons why.
The psychologist William
James stated that there could not be emotion without a physical change. Stress may often be caused by the way we think, but our ability
to deal with, and survive stress depends on the health of our endocrine system.
I am only tempted to tell a patient that their exhaustion
is “all in the mind” when the diagnostic procedures outlined above are unsuccessful.
