Functional blood chemistry is the process by which complex and comprehensive blood biomarkers are organised, analysed and interpreted to provide a comprehensive assessment of the state and trends of the main body systems, the supporting body accessory systems, along with the status of nutrients and trends towards and away from clinical dysfunction. By using functional testing in your practice, you could transform client health outcomes. Here to demonstrate how this powerful tool could boost your practice is Dr Indra Barathan with a guest blog post.
Our bodies are built to constantly respond to the world we are living in. A blood test gives us a snapshot of how it’s responding to a given moment in time.
Back when I was a conventional GP, I used blood tests to look at what was “abnormal” in the readings that could explain why a patient was feeling the way they were. We are taught that a proper history and examination should give you an idea of what could possibly be out of balance or abnormal.
The value in using optimal instead of normal ranges
What I have come to learn from my functional training and becoming a FunctionalDX practitioner is the wealth of information there is in supposedly “normal” bloods. Learning and understanding how “optimal” a clients’ levels are is so informative and helps us understand how the body is truly responding on multiple levels, and what it may need in terms of support to enable it to work optimally.
An example of using optimal ranges that I often use is when reading a blood test for Ferritin. This can tell us about iron levels in the body. But if the range starts at 20 and you are at 21, your patient probably doesn’t feel great – or “normal”. So being able to assess this marker using optimal ranges can make all the difference in terms of client health outcomes.
Dr Indra’s experience of using FunctionalDX to uncover her own hidden health trends
I used FDX to understand how my body works and it has made me realise how my body deals with the carbohydrates in my food. I now know that I have inflammation which I need to support through how I eat and live my life. My hormones are under pressure and are trying to keep me balanced. This has helped me understand that I need some extra support with nutrients and that I should consider some hormonal replacement. None of my bloods were “abnormal”, but they were certainly not optimal. This information has helped me make decisions and given me further evidence of what lifestyle changes I can make for myself and support clients with. I now use FunctionalDX blood and health reporting to help my clients shine a light on areas that they need to work on to support how their body is functioning.
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Dr Indra Barathan is a specialist functional medical practitioner providing personalised functional medicine consultations. Indra now has practices in Leeds and Manchester and a multi-disciplinary team comprising doctors, health coaches and a nutritional therapist.
