This requires looking at the entire patient, to determine what can be creating the kidney problems.  Many Chiropractors and Physicians who practice these concepts have also used the term “Integrative” to describe this healthcare approach.

A basic philosophy in Functional Medicine is that imbalances in your metabolic function often occur as a result of a person’s unique “biochemical individuality”.   Biochemical individuality recognizes that we are all unique individuals with different health needs. Metabolic imbalances can be caused by factors that include diet, pollutants, nutrients (including air and water), exercise, as well as trauma.  Trauma can be processed by one’s body, emotions, and spirit differently for different people, as we have unique set of genetic predispositions, attitudes, and beliefs related to our cultural and social experiences.

Functional Medicine (integrative health care practices) works well with people who have health concerns that are not always easy to resolve and those who have not improved with traditional, symptom-based health management approaches. These would include chronic health challenges involving fatigue, pain, neuromuscular, immune and auto-immune and structural imbalances.  Blood tests that are done generally go beyond the normal blood type testing, and can identify nutritional deficiencies that can be materially contributing to health issues.

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One of the many conveniences of this type of testing is that patients all over the nation can have their blood drawn close to their residence, and then have their lab results delivered electronically to a doctor of their choice for interpretation. This way allows a patient to work with a healthcare practitioner across the country, or across the world.

Functional Versus Pathological Blood Chemistry Lab Ranges
There are two main types of ranges in the field of blood chemistry analysis: a functional and pathological range. The pathological range is a larger range used to identify when a person is sick. All laboratories which perform blood chemistry analysis use these ranges. Many people who fall inside the normal pathological range are told they are “healthy”, yet may continue to experience health problems. These lab reference ranges are formulated from testing sick people, not healthy people. Therefore, if you fall in this range you may be told that everything is normal, yet continue to have the same problems.

On the other hand the functional range is a narrower range, taken from healthier people, used to assess risk for health problems and detect serious health challenges before they develop. Because of conventional dogma, many traditional healthcare practitioners do not embrace the concept of the functional range. What it boils down to is your definition of “health” and how healthy you want to feel. Embracing the functional range embraces a higher definition of health, vitality and wellness compared to the pathological range. The functional blood chemistry ranges used at Fundamental Health Solutions have been determined by the American Association of Clinical Chemists (AACC) taken from healthy subjects.

Interpretation
Although there are some individual lab values for blood chemistry that are specific, most lab values must be evaluated in conjunction with other lab values in order to make an accurate assessment. For example, the lab value LDL Cholesterol is associated with heart health. This value is also associated with liver health, oxidation, and antioxidant deficiencies in the body; therefore an elevation can indicate problems in these areas of the body as well. This example points out the importance that blood chemistry analysis is about identifying patterns to ascertain probabilities. Patterns can only be accurately determined when sufficient lab values are tested. The most important attribute of any healthcare practitioner is learning to identify patterns and provide an appropriate course of action to improve health.

Know Your Numbers
Additional tests, or specialty tests, may be ordered based upon each individual case but only after notification and consent is given by the patient. If you already have had these values tested recently, please submit them for our review. We would be happy to provide further interpretation and assistance.