Initial clues can often be gleaned from standard bloodwork you might have from a recent doctor's visit. If you live (or have an address) outside of New York State, it's also pretty easy to order tests for yourself (via sites like MyMedLab, DirectLabs, WellnessFx. In a perfect world, docs would know about and make use of this 21st century medicine. In an imperfect world (this one), I am thrilled to fill the void. But also happy to collaborate. Among the tests and testing I have found most useful over the past years:
- diurnal cortisol (& dhea)
- neurotransmitters (and their cofactors/enzymes)
- estrogen & estrogen metabolites (often even more important in men!)
- candida/bacterial populations (big Alzheimer/cognitive health link here)
- amino acids (protein sufficiency and efficiency of protein digestion)
- minerals: magnesium, zinc and a few others
- fatty acids (they're not called 'essential' for nuttin'-- even much maligned omega 6!)
I'm grateful to count among my mentors:
for integrative/nutritional psychiatry (basically, addressing issues of ADHD, anxiety, insomnia, depression, memory issues, though a nutritional and toxic exposure lens), Dr. James Greenblatt (Waltham, MA);
for environmental toxins & detoxification and mitochondria function, David Haase (Nashville, TN), Neil Nathan (Santa Rosa, CA), Chris Shade (Boulder, CO);
and for vascular, cardiac and insulin health, Dr. Mimi Guarneri (La Jolla, CA) and Dr. Mark Houston (Nashville, TN)
