Micronutrient Testing in Houston, TX

SpectraCell measures 31 different micronutrients to reveal nutrient status, evaluate metabolic function, and help quantify oxidative stress within the body. The analytes are broken up into the following categories on the test report:

• B Vitamins: Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B12, Folate, Pantothenate, Biotin

• Amino Acids and Metabolites: Serine, Glutamine, Asparagine, Choline, Inositol, Carnitine, Oleic Acid

• Other Vitamins & Minerals: Vitamin D3, Vitamin A, Vitamin K2, Manganese, Calcium, Zinc, Copper, Magnesium

• Carbohydrate Metabolism: Fructose Sensitivity, Glucose-Insulin Interaction, Chromium

   

• Individuals suffering from chronic diseases, like cancer, diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, eczema, psoriasis, neuropathy (numbness/tingling), weakened immune system, depression, osteoporosis

• Individuals diagnosed with maldigestive conditions: Celiac disease, wheat sensitivity, IBS, IBD, SIBO

• People who have a history of restricted eating patterns or follow special diets

• Individuals with a history of chronic use of prescription medications, which can deplete nutrient levels

• • Patients experiencing signs of advanced aging, like fatigue and neurocognitive decline

Without the use of micronutrient testing, doctors had to rely solely on clinical observation and measurements of static levels of nutrients in serum. Static serum levels are not representative indicators for assessing cell metabolism and utilization. First, serum levels are transient. They offer only a snapshot rather than a history of nutritional status. Serum levels of nutrients fluctuate depending on recent intake, the status of nutrient transport into tissues (where it performs its actual functions) and several other factors.

Second, serum levels do not reflect how much of the nutrient actually gets into the cells. Intracellular levels, where the nutrient is actually needed, depend on how well the nutrient is absorbed and transferred across the cell membrane into the tissues of the body. Cofactors are often necessary to transport nutrients. If a person has high serum levels of magnesium, for example, this does not necessarily mean they have the proper cofactors needed to carry magnesium into tissues. Although two people may have similar serum levels, they may differ radically on their capacity to take up nutrients into cells. Research shows that serum levels do not adequately correlate to clinical presentation of nutritional deficiency.

SpectraCell isolates white blood cells from whole blood and grows these white blood cells (the patient’s own cells) in a very controlled environment to determine the person’s lymphocyte response to mitogen stimulation. In simpler terms, the patient’s cellular growth rate in a “perfect” and controlled environment is first determined. Then, micronutrients involved in cell metabolism are evaluated by manipulation of the individual micronutrients in the growth medium. The functional status of 31 nutrients are measured. Deficiencies are detected when the cells’ growth rate is significantly slower in a culture medium that does not have a specific nutrient. So, for example, if the cells’ growth rate is decreased when subjected to an environment without vitamin A, for example, this means that the cells did not have enough vitamin A in its cellular reserve to support optimal growth. Thus, a functional deficiency of vitamin A would exist and be reported.

MNT also assesses the ability of cells to resist damage caused by free radicals and other forms of oxidative stress. Due to the considerable number of cellular antioxidants with extensive interactions, redundancies, repair and recharging capabilities, measuring total function is the most accurate and clinically useful way to assess the capacity to resist oxidative damage. This is determined by Spectracell’s Spectrox® test.

No matter what the underlying cause, a functional deficiency will result in defective metabolic activity. The biochemical pathways that depend on a specific nutrient will be compromised when a functional deficiency of that nutrient exists. A deficiency may exist several months or years before clinical symptoms of overt deficiency are seen. For example, the clinical presentation of a gross vitamin C deficiency is scurvy. But before this extreme deficiency is seen, subclinical deficiency exists and the clinical presentation is much more elusive. For a “subclinical” vitamin C deficiency, for example, there may be symptoms of fatigue or reduced immunity. Treating subclinical deficiencies before they become overtly clinical in classic deficiency disease is ideal.

Several clinically elusive symptoms like general fatigue, low-energy, poor mood or pain are very successfully treated by correction of nutritional deficiencies. Since nutrients have multiple roles throughout the body and are involved in multiple metabolic pathways, correction of nutritional deficiencies often yields systemic benefits.