Functional Medicine Testing

Marina has completed Gastro-Intestinal Advanced Practice Module with the prestigious Institute for Functional Medicine, USA. She uses state-of-the-art functional lab tests with patients who want to get to the root of their health issues quickly. Detailed lab reports can reveal many hidden problems like hormonal imbalances, nutrient deficiencies or subclinical infections. Armed with this information, she can tailor recommendations so you can get quicker results.

Some of the tests are listed below as examples to give you an idea what can be tested.

Digestive Health Tests

A broad range of specific tests is used to determine underlying causes of gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhoea, constipation, bloating, cramping, nausea, reflux, flatulence and belching. Marina works with many different labs and will recommend the lab test most appropriate for your symptoms.

The most common tests she recommends are below with links to sample reports if you’d like to see more detailed information about each test.

• GI Map (stool test) – view sample report
• GI 360 Complete (stool test) – view sample report
• SIBO lactulose (breath test) – view sample report
• Advanced Intestinal Barrier Screen (blood test) – view sample report

Hormonal Health Tests

The DUTCH Plus Test is a convenient at-home urine and saliva test that can help identify the root causes of hormone imbalances in men and women. It requires collecting 4 dried urine samples and 5 saliva samples at specific times of the day. It can provide valuable insights into conditions such as menopause, PCOS, weight gain, fatigue, low libido, premenstrual syndrome, mood swings, sleep issues, mood disorders and prostate issues in men.

In addition to sex hormones, it also measures metabolites of your stress hormone cortisol which will give an indication of adrenal health and how resilient you are to stress. This detailed test can also be used to gather baseline measurements for the administration and monitoring of hormone replacement therapy.

View sample report

Advanced Blood Screening Panels 

Marina uses FunctionalDX laboratory for advanced blood testing as their blood science technology is the single most comprehensive and accurate blood analysis on the market today. It covers a wide range of markers and they offer bespoke panels that can assess specific issues including thyroid health, cardiovascular health, fertility, cognitive health and more.

Cheaper alternatives are offered to those requiring single marker tests or simpler/ more affordable testing panels.

Autoimmune Panels from Cyrex Labs

Identifying whether or not one’s symptoms are autoimmune can only be confirmed by testing. As removing the triggers for autoimmunity is key for the management of the disease, finding out what your body may be reacting to is key so those foods can be removed. For instance, Marina often uses a Wheat/Gluten Proteome Reactivity & Autoimmunity test to identify possible Celiac disease, non-celiac gluten sensitivity, dermatitis herpetiformis, gluten ataxia or other wheat/gluten-related disorder. This will confirm whether or not it is absolutely necessary for someone to remove wheat/gluten from their diet.

View sample report

Other Cyrex tests are often recommended to those diagnosed with IBD (ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease) or other autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, SLE, psoriasis, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, etc. to ascertain their possible autoimmune triggers like specific foods, viruses, bacteria or parasites.

Autoimmune testing is recommended for patients who:

• Have non-responsive GI symptoms
• Present multiple-symptom complaints (including Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia)
• Suffer from depression or neuro-autoimmunity

Other lab tests

Marina uses many more lab tests in order to check for the body’s burden of heavy metals, environmental toxins, candida, H. pylori, toxic mould exposure and more. Genetic testing and methylation panels are also very helpful in tailoring support to make sure the body is getting the right form and amount of nutrients as many people have genetic conditions that affect their ability to metabolise certain vitamins and other nutrients.