Description
Heavy metals toxicity caused by increasing levels of pollution and use of chemicals in industry is a growing threat to our health and development of our children. High levels of toxic metals deposited in body tissues and subsequently in the brain, may cause significant developmental and neurological damage.
A Metals Hair Test is ideal for checking current exposure to toxic metals. Hair provides important information that can assist the practitioner with an early diagnosis of physiological disorders associated with aberrations in essential and toxic element metabolism.
WHY CHOOSE A METALS HAIR TEST
Extensive research established that scalp hair element levels are related to human systemic levels. The strength of this relationship varies for specific elements, and many researchers consider hair as the tissue of choice for toxic and several nutrient elements. Unlike blood, hair element levels are not regulated by homeostatic mechanisms. Thus, deviations in hair element levels often appear prior to overt symptoms and can thereby be a valuable preliminary tool for predicting the development of physiological abnormalities.
Hair element analysis provides important information which, in conjunction with symptoms and other laboratory values, can assist the physician with an early diagnosis of physiological disorders associated with aberrations in essential and toxic element metabolism.
As protein is synthesized in the hair follicle, elements are incorporated permanently into the hair with no further exchange with other tissues. Scalp hair is easy to sample, and because it grows an average of one to two cm per month, it contains a “temporal record” of element metabolism and exposure to toxic elements.
Nutrient elements including magnesium, chromium, zinc, copper and selenium are obligatory co-factors for hundreds of important enzymes and also are essential for the normal functions of vitamins. The levels of these elements in hair are correlated with levels in organs and other tissues.
Toxic elements may be 200-300 times more highly concentrated in hair than in blood or urine. Therefore, hair is the tissue of choice for detection of recent exposure to elements such as arsenic, aluminum, cadmium, lead, antimony, and mercury. The CDC acknowledges the value of hair mercury levels as a maternal and infant marker for exposure to neurotoxic methylmercury from fish.
THE BENEFITS OF METALS TESTING
Determine if metal toxicity or mineral deficiency is contributing to the disorder
Monitor the effects of chelation (elimination of heavy metals from the body)
Identify if supplementation of important minerals may bring about significant improvements
SPECIMEN REQUIREMENTS
Hair (source head or pubic): 0.25 grams (approximately 1 tablespoon) of hair is the absolute minimum. 1 gram is preferred.
INCLUDES:
√ Lab Test
√ Doctor’s Review of Test Results
√ Doctor’s Recommended Course of Action
NOTE: This test is not available to residents of New York or Maryland. Any orders originating from these states will automatically be canceled. Any samples originating from these states will be discarded.
