Specialty Testing Specialist

What is specialty testing?

Specialty testing is a service Well Aging Med provides that tests you for specific health problems. Many are hormone-related, like:

• Metabolic syndrome
• Thyroid hormone imbalance
• Low testosterone
• Depression
• Nutrient deficiencies

These types of conditions and many others are associated with hormone production and, in many cases, a lack of one particular hormone. By testing your hormone levels, Dr. Bogard can determine whether you would benefit from hormone therapy to address any hormonal imbalance. Specialty testing can also identify the causes of problems like food allergies and insomnia.

One of the hormone problems Dr. Bogard sees most frequently is adrenal fatigue.

What is adrenal fatigue?

Adrenal fatigue is a common problem that’s widely undiagnosed. Your adrenal glands sit on top of your kidneys and make several hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol. Adrenal fatigue can result from a lack of cortisol, which causes symptoms like:

• Difficulty getting up
• Extreme fatigue
• Chronic stress
• Craving salty foods
• Weakened immune system

You might find you have higher levels of energy in the evenings, and even find it hard to sleep. During the day, you might be relying on caffeine and other stimulants to keep you going. In order to test these levels, Dr. Bogard will send you home with a kit that will have you collect your saliva at different times throughout the day. You will then ship the samples off to a testing facility which will be able to tell us your cortisol levels throughout the day. 

You also have an option of collecting dried urine samples to learn more about your cortisol levels as well as information about your levels of sex hormones including estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone.

How does specialty testing find the causes of food sensitivities and allergies?

Our food sensitivity testing requires a single vial of blood which can be collected in our office. The samples will then be processed and you will receive a report that breaks down up to 184 different foods and spices and can report whether you have an IgG or IgE response to them. This can be extremely important because these foods could be causing inflammation in your GI tract or other parts of your body. Even foods that are typically known to be healthy could be harming your overall health. To identify the cause of your food sensitivity or allergy, you need to keep a record of everything you eat and drink, to see if there are any links between specific foods and the symptoms you’re experiencing. Dr. Bogard also analyses your family's medical history and carries out a physical exam to rule out other causes of your symptoms.

You can also collect stool samples over a few days in order to get a comprehensive look at the microbiome in your gut as well as the overall health in each part of your digestive tract. This lab is extremely detailed and lists the percentage of every bacteria found in which part of your gut as well as what this means for your overall health and suggestions on how to improve where you need it.

How does specialty testing find the causes of insomnia?

When you visit Well Aging Med with insomnia, you need to undergo some routine health checks. Then, Dr. Bogard discusses your symptoms with you and any lifestyle factors that could be affecting your ability to sleep.

Very often, it’s poor sleep habits that cause insomnia, like eating late at night, drinking caffeine, or using electronic screens before you settle down. Or it can be problems like stress or adrenal fatigue.

Specialty testing for insomnia involves taking part in a sleep study, where Dr. Bogard can monitor your:

• Brain waves
• Heartbeat
• Breathing
• Eye movements
• Body movements

Sleep apnea or insomnia testing involves a take home sleep study kit which has a finger and chest probe that monitor your vitals throughout the night. Based on these results, Dr. Bogard will be able to diagnose and start treating a variety of sleep disorders.

How does specialty testing assess my heart health?

Cardiovascular diseases are one of the leading causes of death in America. In order to catch these symptoms before they get too serious, Dr. Bogard includes a full cardiovascular assessment as part of your initial and yearly appointments. This involves being assessed by our MaxPulse machine. This machine will clip on to one finger and ask you not to move or talk for about 3 minutes. Afterwards, the program will be able to analyze a number of statistics gathered during that time and can tell you the degree of blockage in your blood vessels as well as your stress levels.

If Dr. Bogard is still concerned about your heart health after that preliminary testing, there is also a 3-lead EKG machine in the office that she can use to monitor your heart rhythms in depth for additional clarity.

Can Specialty testing help with mood disorders?

You can take home a urine neurotransmitter test that will test for a variety of neurotransmitter hormones such as: serotonin, GABA, dopamine, epinephrine, norepinephrine, glutamate, histamine, etc. Disturbance in the levels of these hormones is associated with mood and neurological disorders including depression, schizophrenia, anxiety, epilepsy, ADHD, Tourettes and Parkinsons.

How does specialty testing check for Heavy Metal Toxicity?

Dr. Bogard can check for heavy metal toxicity by having you take a compounded drug called DMSA and then collecting some urine samples. This will be done with a take home kit that you will ship to the testing facility. This test will check for many toxins such as Aluminum, Arsenic, Lead, Mercury, Nickel, Tin, Tungsten, and Uranium. These toxins can be found in objects that people interact with commonly such as seafood, paint, gasoline, batteries, and fertilizer. If you test positive, you have the option of treating with oral chelation or IV chelation, which can be performed in the office.

How can I tell if I have been exposed to mold?

Testing for mold exposure involves a take home urine collection kit. You will need to collect one container of urine first thing in the morning and will ship off the sample to the testing facility. The results will show over 10 different common molds that you may have been exposed to. If you test positive, treatment with oral medication will be given.

To find out more about the comprehensive range of specialty testing available, call Well Aging Med today.