A work horse laboratory in any functional medicine practice is stool testing. But really gleaning the best insight into our patient’s clinical picture can be tough. What do all of these commensal organisms really suggest? How do they correlate with the inflammatory findings? Of the bell weather bugs (like akkermansia) how can we increase levels? Is there ANY place for microscopy (O&P) and culture in today’s high throughput Omics world? You see where I’m headed. Even for the most seasoned FxMed clinician, a review of how to use these tests with an eye towards what to expect in new technology is essential. Disagreement with methods? Yes. Why? Zonulin Family Peptide – any utility? A great conversation with Dr. Michael Chapman of Genova Diagnostics. Thrilled with their commitment to in-house “data mining” and peer reviewed publication (IMO all of the Fx labs should be doing this). ~DrKF
Dr. Kara Fitzgerald | New Frontiers in Functional Medicine, Longevity, Epigenetics