Educational Articles
Beyond Breath Testing: Using the GI-MAP to Uncover the Other Players in SIBO
Description
SIBO is on the top of everyone’s mind these days. In this blog by Dr. Amy Rolfsen we review why SIBO breath testing by itself just isn’t enough. To design an effective treatment protocol the first time, we need the whole picture of gut health, including digestion, immunity, commensals,... read more »
Focusing on Fecal Elastase-1 with GI-MAP to Diagnose Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency
By Ilana Gurevich, ND, L.Ac.
Fecal Elastase-1 (Define?)
Uprooting Underlying Causes of a Common Patient Complaint
Diarrhea is one of the most common patient complaints in clinical practice. The underlying causes of diarrhea are complex and multifactorial. The goal... read more »
qPCR Testing for GI Pathogens
Methodology Matters in Diagnostic Stool Testing
By David M. Brady, ND, DC, CCN, DACBN, IFMCP, FACN and Cass Nelson-Dooley, MS
Our Chief Medical Officer, Dr. David Brady, is featured on the cover of the January 2021 issue of the Townsend Letter. Read the article, "Methodology Matters in Diagnostic... read more »
Response to Doctor's Data Inc (DDI) Funded Study
A qualitative assay (reporting only Positive/Negative results) cannot be used to determine the sensitivity of a quantitative assay (which reports numbers of detected organisms at levels as low as 10 cells/gram of stool). The BioFire and Meridian assays are designed to detect only high... read more »
COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2 Testing Overview
Introduction
There is a lot of conversation and controversy surrounding the issue of laboratory testing as it pertains to COVID-19 and SARS-CoV-2, generating an unfortunate amount of media misreporting and confusion on the part of both the lay public and health care providers alike. In this... read more »
Strengthening the Immune System via GI Infection Treatments
My mentors taught me that gut health determines immune strength nearly 30 years ago. It’s naturopathic medicine 101 that our gut immunity shapes our overall immune response. Rosie was a 39-year-old patient suffering from recurrent sinus and respiratory tract infections that required antibiotics... read more »
Coronavirus Stool Testing
SARS-CoV-2 qPCR Stool Test from Diagnostic Solutions Laboratory
by Tom Fabian, PhD, CNTP, and Cass Nelson-Dooley, MS
Key Points
Cutting-edge viral RNA qPCR stool test measures levels of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
SARS-CoV-2 in stool may be found... read more »
Botanical Therapy for Antibiotic Resistance in the GI Tract
Antibiotic resistance (AR) is a global public health crisis with far-reaching consequences. With the spread of AR, previously treatable infections have become challenging, and often impossible, to treat. According to the Center for Disease Control's recently released 2019 AR Threat Report, each... read more »
Autoimmune Diseases: How to Get to the Bottom of the Problem
Autoimmune conditions are the conventional practitioner’s burden and the integrative and functional medicine practitioner’s gift. I say this because conventional medicine effectively addresses the symptoms, but has little to offer in the way of reversing autoimmune disease. On the other hand,... read more »