Hair Mineral Testing

[maryb]

brenda
ooooh I don't like the high levels of arsenic!!!! glad your diet is working for you, have to say mine isn't really but hey maybe one day soon

I respect your opinion on DP and good that we can differ graciously

 

[Little Bluestem]

I wonder if her health has recovered to the degree that she said/thought that it had.

 

[kisekishiawase]

i just found out you have to tell your symtomps and condition. doesnt that mean they can 'analyze' u/make prediction even by only telling your symptoms. for ex: cramp, insomnia =mag deficient, etc.
and it will match well with your condition.

anyway different sources make controversial insight about HTMA. but i already took the test. quite expensive too. im still quite unsure if its worth it though

 

[Little Bluestem]

Do you have some kind of healthcare practitioner to discuss the results with you? I found that the 'prefab' explanations that came with my results contained some incorrect assumptions.

 

[kisekishiawase]

could someone help/give me inputs about my tesult?
the result showed very high potassium& high rubidium (this is so odd?!)
a high sodium.
-in range but sorta low: calcium+copper+selenium+barium.
-in low range: cobalt+magnesium+iron+manganese+germanium+lithium+nickel+strontium.
-extremely low molybdenum.
-no zirconium, bismuth, tin, platinum, tungsten.
-arsenic in range but slightly high. (dont know why? aside the possibility from food but it should be low i think)
-mercury in range low.

what questioned me are:
rubidium lowered potassium/compete with it so its really weird that both very high. usually high rubidium will cause symptoms as low potassium.
rubidium also supposed to reduce thyroid hormone but it said i should have overactive thyroid hormone due to high sodium and potassium.
those are contradictive to each other.

also since potassium high aside from the possible causes which could be adrenal (or could it be other thing?) does it mean i have to avoid potassium food? which is hard.

the sodium is high and it said i should have hypertension but i have low BP instead?? although sodium increase cortisol too which isnt good for me and possibly my problem.

Do you have some kind of healthcare practitioner to discuss the results with you? I found that the 'prefab' explanations that came with my results contained some incorrect assumptions.

what do you mean? the person who provides the test seem didnt really understand/know much and helping. only read from the result interpretation info given by the lab. which i also can read.

 

[barbc56]

Have you had bloodtests to confirm the hair testing? Blood tests are the "gold" standard for measurement.

Hair is exposed to hair dyes, shampoo, environmental factors such as dust, smog, etc.

It's all so complicated, isn't it?

Good luck!

Barb

 

[kisekishiawase]

@barbc56 do you mean htma is not valid?
i did the blood test which is serum but it cant measure intracellular. rbc ones are better but cant get the test yet. cant get other test to measure intracellular. also i read that the interpretation for blood and hair are different.
anyway i dont dye my hair and use herbal shampoo although theres still some chemical i think. before shipping to trace element which claim doesnt wash the hair i wash my hair only with water.
and i do know theres some controversy about htma some positive some negative. and it puts some doubts/confusion but since i already took it. i think i should give it a try.

 

[barbc56]

I may have misread your post. What I meant to say is if you don't think the hair testing makes sense from what you know about your health, you might want to get a blood test.

But it sounds like you have had the bloodtests?

I don't know about the other test.

Take care.
Barb

 

[kisekishiawase]

@barbc56 there are some matter that i dont get about it. also when i read on the net there are different explanation/interpretation.
thanks for replying though

 

[Little Bluestem]

what do you mean? the person who provides the test seem didnt really understand/know much and helping. only read from the result interpretation info given by the lab. which i also can read.

In the discussion of the ratios that were off, the canned explanation in the report would assume that one mineral was low when in fact the other was high or vise-versa.

I was hoping that you had someone who actually knew about balancing minerals to help you as it is somewhat complex. I’m not real happy with the person I am working with, but she can do a little more than read the lab report to me.

 

[Harmen]

Hi all!

I have these mineral results. I supplement a lot of selenium (for years already), magnesium, zinc, boron (5 mg+), lithium (10 mg a day from lithium orotate) and about 10 grams of potassium chloride a day.
If I stop supplementing potassium chloride I inmediately crash and recover in a week of two. Then my energy levels will continue to drop until my energy is 0 (bed/couch ridden, only able to shower, eat and to use the toilet, 16 hours of sleep a day).

After these results came in I started two rounds (6 weeks each) of my own variation of chelorex (chlorealla + coriander based heavy metal chelation). The results of one round of chelorex are in the image below.

I was hoping that my dependency on potassium would drop and that my mineral status would increase. What do you think of that hypothesis? I don't experience improved potassium uptake.

 

[Little Bluestem]

Taurine can help get potassium (and magnesium) into the cells.

I don't see the potassium results on your tests.

 

[Harmen]

Yes I know potassium wasn't tested (the hair mineral analysis retest will include that one). But I know that I feel absolutely rubbish if I don't supplement.

I was hoping that the low potassium fitted in the all-low pattern. Any ideas on those very low essenential nutrients?

edit: taurine is interesting. It not only improves potassium retention and transport but it also protects the cell agains calcium influx. That sound also like something I need. And it is dirt cheap. Good suggestion

 

[learning]

If DP's theory is correct, I wonder if it is really ever advisable to even be taking a high dose B-complex due to B-2's low absorption compared to the other B's and B-2 stores being used up to help assimilate the massive amounts of other B's. Maybe if you even gave yourself extra B-2 to compensate along with a B-complex you still might not be doing yourself any favors because maybe you will just urinate out the additional B-2 because of it's low absorption, although I would like DP's thoughts on if one were to take a B-complex if additional B-2 can be taken sublingually to overcome the absorption issue. Maybe still it is just too much overkill on the mg content of the other B's? If so, maybe one could just cut way back on their daily dose of B-complex <maybe 1/5th or even 1/10th of a pill? I don't know..just guessing>. Even if you bought a low mg content B-complex, most of those have the dreaded "folic acid" in them. I atleast know one thing about myself, I feel worse taking a high dose B-complex.

why is folic acid bad?

 

[Little Bluestem]

As people get older, many are not able to convert it to it's usable form. One study found that four out of five post-menopausal women were not able to convert folic acid. It then interferes with the utilization of other forms of folate.

 

[Vanessa_M]

I am very interesting to see hair test results of CFS diagnosed people.
I would like to combine the results in a database to see if there is a strong correlation between people with this illness. Then I will let you know my observations.

Thank you

I had a hair element test done with Rocky Mountain Analytical. I'd be willing to submit my reports to you, if you are still doing this research. I've only read through part of this thread so far, because it is quite long. I have an autoimmune condition, and secondary fibromylagia (but recovered), and have been researching this angle since I came across some PubMed articles which have shown that people with RA tend to have high copper and low zinc. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25869414 Additionally, it appears that one of the second tier DMARD's used to treat RA is in fact a copper chelation agent - D-Pennicillamine.

From everything that I've read about copper so far, it sounds like it can wreak havoc on the nervous system, energy levels, mood, sleep etc...

My tests showed the following:
-Very high copper levels (this was the worst one)
-Low Iron
-low zinc
-Moderately high lead

My best friend has CFS, she got tested too and came back similar results, with high copper, low Iron, moderate lead.

 

[Vanessa_M]

I agree - the "science" behind hair analysis has been thoroughly discredited and I hate to see people make treatment decisions based upon such misleading information.

Hi there,
I've heard people say this before, and I would like to evaluate this for myself. Can you provide some of the sources you a referring to when you say that 'hair analysis has be thoroughly discredited'. Who has done the discrediting and debunking of this?? I know there was one study done in like the 1980's that claimed that the same samples sent to different labs, came up with different results. But that was the 80's, so I don't know if there is still a problem with it now, or if there have been some refinements in technique/methods by now.

 

[Little Bluestem]

Hi again, @Vanessa_M - Dog Person is no longer a member of these forums.

I think it is that 1980's study that is still used to discredit hair mineral testing. What they do not tell you is that all of the paired samples sent to two of the labs came back with the same results. Those two labs were Analytical Research Labs and Trace Elements, Inc. There may be other labs that do a good job now.

 

[Vanessa_M]

Hi again, @Vanessa_M - Dog Person is no longer a member of these forums.

I think it is that 1980's study that is still used to discredit hair mineral testing. What they do not tell you is that all of the paired samples sent to two of the labs came back with the same results. Those two labs were Analytical Research Labs and Trace Elements, Inc. There may be other labs that do a good job now.

Ok thanks, this is VERY helpful to hear. I've heard people make the argument that it has been debunked, but then people don't share links to where they found this out. And when they do, it is usually that 1980's study. I think if I do a follow up test, I will choose the ARL labs next time. Had a very good impression from their website.

Oh darn she's not a member, would have like to ask her some questions. But I am definitely going to look into this B2 thing - my naturopath had no explanation for why both me and friend a friend of mine had such similar results, as described above, so I will be sharing this info with her. I wish there was a condensed summary of Christine's research or findings - did she ever publish? Have you personally had any good results from supplementing, based on your hair testing results? Just curious, hope you don't mind me asking.

 

[Little Bluestem]

I did have good results. I had just had lead show up on my hair test and had raised liver enzymes on the tests my MD did for the first time when Dog Person showed up. On my next tests after starting the B2 protocol my iron was up, my zinc was up, my lead was gone, and my liver enzymes were normal. The zinc, lead, and liver have continued to be OK, but the couple of times I have run out of some of the B2 protocol supplements, my iron has gone down. It comes back up when I get back with the program.

09Aug, ETA: I did not ever take any supplemental iron. My iron came up with the addition of B2 and associated supplements. I was taking zinc (and my zinc was going down) prior to the B2 protocol. I stopped taking it for a few months while starting the protocol, but am taking it again because I have macular degeneration. My zinc is right in the middle of the reference range with the amount I am taking.

I haven't checked in a while, so I just did a search and could not find any publication. Her website that I knew about is not longer there.

I can send you my notes, which are sort of a condensed summary, in a conversation (what we call a private message) if you would like.