IRLIFM Remarkable Journey
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About IRLIFM Lab
Why lab testing is important in functional medicine. Functional medicine is based on peer-reviewed science and finds the root cause of your symptoms. There are a variety of factors that can lead to depression, fatigue, chronic pain, poor function, and other chronic health disorders. Functional lab testing shows a trend toward disease In conventional medicine, doctors use labs to screen for disease.
Once a condition has become a disease, such as diabetes or autoimmune disease, the damage is significant. Functional medicine uses lab testing to catch a health trend that is on the way to disease but that can still be slowed, halted, or reversed.
For instance, lab markers that show elevated blood sugar, inflammation, and poor liver function allow you to easily reverse the march towards diabetes.
Another example is autoimmunity. A significant amount of tissue must be destroyed before conventional medicine can diagnose autoimmune disease. However, by testing for antibodies against tissue, the autoimmune progression can be slowed or stopped in its early stages.
Functional lab testing tracks progress
Although the first test is important for identifying health problems, subsequent testing is also crucial to let you know whether your protocol is working. If there is no improvement, it means you have not hit on the right protocol or discovered all the underlying causes.
Lab testing improves compliance and social support
Seeing the results of a lab test makes it easier to stick with a protocol. It also can encourage a disbelieving spouse, family member, or friend to support you. Many people think gluten sensitivity is just a fad, or that your symptoms aren’t real and you simply complain too much. Your lab results validate your symptoms and can help others be more supportive.
Dr. Willem Ten Bengevoort
Biography
Dr. Ten Bengevoort has a medical degree and general practice training from South-Africa. He was a lecturer in medical microbiology before undertaking his Master of Public Health and PhD in Community Medicine at the University of California on healthcare-asso