Includes: Digestive Function Analysis, Microbiology Analysis, Bacteriology Culture, Fecal Fat Analysis, Yeast Culture Sound nutrition and digestive processes are fundamental for long-term optimal health. With changes in the modern diet, however, gastrointestinal disorders have become increasingly prevalent. One recent study reported that, over a period of three months, gastrointestinal symptoms were experienced in over 70 percent of American households. Maldigestion, malabsorption and abnormal gut flora and ecology, as well as many complex chronic illnesses and symptoms, lie at the root of most common GI complaints. Great Smokies' Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis (CDSA) provides clinicians with a critical, non-invasive tool for evaluating the status of the digestive tract. This test helps pinpoint imbalances, provide clues about current symptoms and warn of potential problems should the imbalances progress. With an accurate assessment, custom-tailored treatment can be easily applied, greatly increasing the chances for therapeutic success. GSDL has made some key enhancements to the CDSA which you will find to be very beneficial. These enhancements include the addition of the Functional Physiologic Range (FPR) to the reports of all CDSA and CDSA-related tests. FPR provides healthcare providers with a clearer definition of what is "normal" for a test result. Also, the Bacterial Dysbiosis Index has been renamed Dysbiosis Risk Index. This new index will provide you with a more accurate reflection of the intestinal milieu, as well as to encourage patients to pay more attention to areas not previously represented in the index, such as maldigestion, malabsorption, and yeast overgrowth. The
CDSA is used in the evaluation of various gastrointestinal symptoms or systemic
illnesses that may have started in the intestine. Because illnesses are often
not discernable from symptoms, the CDSA is a valuable means of identifying critical
imbalances previously unsuspected.
FEES INCLUDE: Kit: $14.95, Great Smokies Performance of Test: $139, Dr Banks follow-up consultation: $125 (email/phone) With every new out-break of food- and waterborne parasite infection, more people are coming to realize the enormous impact of parasites and diarrheal diseases on human health. Diarrheal diseases (bacterial as well as parasitic) constitute the greatest worldwide cause of morbidity and mortality.1 Numerous studies show parasitic infection up to 99% in undeveloped countries.2 In the United States, diarrheal diseases caused by intestinal infections are the third leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Most Americans have grown up with modern sanitation, and it is often assumed parasitic infections are encountered only in impoverished foreign countries.3 According to Neva, "The United States citizen can acquire amebiasis, giardiasis, pinworms, and strongyloides, for example, without so much as a passport application."4 The increase in worldwide travel, coupled with increasing immigration into the United States and a rise in imported foods, contributes to the spread and incidence of parasitic infections. In a study of outpatients at the Gastroenterology Clinic in Elmhurst, N.Y., a 74% incidence of parasites was found.5 A total of 20% of this population harbored pathogens. One survey of public health laboratories reported that 15.6% of specimens examined contained a parasite.6 At Genova Diagnostics, almost 30% of specimens examined are positive for a parasite. The prevalence of parasitic infections in the United States is difficult to quantify. Most figures are underestimates that can be traced to inadequate parasitologic training of physicians and laboratory technicians.3 As detection methods become more accurate and sophisticated, physicians are recognizing the increased incidence of parasitic infection and its relationship to a broad spectrum of diseases. What are parasites? The two major classifications, predator and scavenger, are differentiated by their nutritional relationships.7 Further modification leads to symbiosis and commensalism. Parasitism is where the host is injured through the activities of the parasite during an intimate and protracted relationship between the two. Some organisms have a changing interaction with their host-sometimes as a parasite and sometimes commensal. Clinical significance In general, a parasite interferes with the host's vital processes through secretions, excretions, or other products.7 These products include proteolytic enzymes that erode the intestinal wall, enterocytotoxins (from E. histolytica), and serotonin-like products.8 Parasitic infections can trigger autoimmune reactivity. The parasite might cause tissue destruction, thus releasing high amounts of self antigens which stimulate the autoreactivity.9 The most common symptoms of intestinal parasitic infections are abdominal pain and moderate or severe diarrhea, but there is a wide range of both acute and chronic effects. Giardiasis is an interesting model for the systemic effects of gastrointestinal parasites. Giardia lamblia, although capable of causing acute illness (diarrhea), can hide in the GI tract for years with few symptoms.10 Among the common systemic complaints of this disease are fatigue and anorexia. It is reasonable to suspect that many long-term effects are due to phenomena occurring at or within the mucosal membranes. Zinneman reported that giardiasis is associated with reduced secretory IgA, a primary mucosal defense mechanism against foreign infections.11 Moreover, Giardia lamblia is known to be a cause of malabsorption, suggesting a decreased mucosal permeability. Giardiasis is also associated with asthma, urticaria, arthritis, and uveitis, suggesting increased mucosal permeability. 12 It could be hypothesized that giardiasis results in altered permeability-increased permeability to some types of molecules and decreased permeability to other types. Decreased secretory IgA levels, either as a cause or as a consequence of this phenomenon, would result in increased susceptibility to secondary infections and systemic symptoms. |