Many practitioners base their treatment decisions
and follow-up care primarily on symptoms and patient history alone,
because many lab tests, when analyzed using the conventional laboratory
reference range, are “normal” and are often too expensive
to repeat frequently. This is unfortunate, because many symptoms
emerge later into a process of dysfunction or pathology and often
disappear long before a dysfunction is fully addressed. This leaves
a large prognostic “gray zone” both before and after
a symptom is present.
It is essential in a practice of patient-centered preventative
medicine to have the tools to assess where a patient lies upon this
spectrum. Blood chemistry and CBC analysis from an optimal and functional
perspective is one of the tools that allows the practitioner to
assess that prognostic “gray zone”. We also recommend
using symptom questionnaires, a thorough functional physical examination,
and appropriate in-office lab tests along with regular blood chemistry
analysis to get a thorough picture of what is going on.
Incorporating symptom questionnaires into the analysis can be very
useful. We cannot over-emphasize the importance of a good, thorough
history when interpreting baseline or serial laboratory values.
Diet, lifestyle, and medication history is critical for the proper
interpretation of a routine blood analysis, as many of these factors
play an important role in establishing the etiology of a dysfunction.
We recommend running a comprehensive blood chemistry and CBC every
6 months for active patients and every year for those patients on
a maintenance program. They should be run more frequently when dealing
with an acute case. In between these visits we encourage the use
of simple and inexpensive in-office laboratory tests that can be
run economically to help track a patient’s progress. Recommendations
for these tests are made throughout the book.
Most tests do not give immediate feedback and therefore take valuable
time between data gathering and action or treatment. In our office
we use a biofeedback technique called Neuro-Lingual Testing in conjunction
with hands-on reflex testing to quickly and accurately gather data
from the patient. We find that this system of analysis, when combined
with blood chemistry and CBC analysis and appropriate in-office
testing, allows us to accurately assess the individual needs of
the patient.
For more information on health questionnaires, in-office lab testing,
Neuro-Lingual Testing, and the hands-on reflex testing please Click
on this link or on the Products button on the left hand navigation
© 2020 Weatherby & Associates, LLC
|