Many of you have been asking how to test for autoimmunity processes going on in your body lately. I direct you usually to your doctor for an overall screen, where they might do ANA (antinuclear antibodies) usually to see if there is a general sign of autoimmune disease such as lupus, RA or hepatitis there.
Or I direct you to Cyrex 5, the really super-duper disease-specific autoimmune test which is beyond many of you at well over £500. Very useful if you need those specific markers, of course, and can be life-saving in fact.
But, what if you need something in-between: a more comprehensive ‘general’ look and a few common specific autoimmune disease markers such as adrenal, stomach acid, intestinal, liver etc?
Well, before Cyrex launched their tests, I invented my own to approximate them as they took so long in coming! One of those was a general autoimmune screen called MR1 and today I have reinstated it as I think it is still needed. I got the lab to dust the info off, give me an up to date price and voila, it is now on the shop for you.
See here on the Gluten, Cyrex & Autoimmunity Tests section.
Here’s the blurb I’ve written for the Autoimmunity bit:
Autoimmunity
We know that gluten is the only common denominator found so far in autoimmune disorders, which is really exciting info! Coeliac disease is an autoimmunity attack on the absorptive villi in the gut, hence the problems that come with CD illness. But that is what we know and have studied. Other people have autoimmune thyroid or adrenal issues, ovarian attack (infertility is common in GRDs), skin diseases, reactive arthritis, psoriasis etc etc. The list goes on.
First, check if autoimmune disease markers are present: I have invented my own ‘general marker’s autoimmunity screen, much cheaper than some of the Cyrex ones to start you off. This is a general ‘can we find evidence easily of autoimmune disease going on?’ test with some specific autoimmune disease types I see a lot included.
Use MR1 Autoimmune Screen if it covers what you need. It includes Thyroid Peroxidase, Thyroglobulin Antibodies, Antinuclear Antibodies, Mitochondrial Abs, Smooth Muscle, Gastric Parietal (stomach eg. for acid and intrinsic factor/B12), Reticulin, LKM, Islet Cell (pancreas), Adrenal, Ovarian and Testicular. Not bad, huh!
Use Cyrex 5 for a really comprehensive autoimmune screen, Cyrex 6 for diabetes, Cyrex 7 or 7X for the neurological autoimmunity screen, Cyrex 8 for joint autoimmunity and Cyrex 20 for blood-brain.
Next, consider if pathogens are causing your issues. Cyrex 12 assesses IgG immune reactivity to pathogens that are documented triggers or exacerbators of autoimmunity and chronic disease. The test looks for IgG antibodies to various pathogens including oral pathogens, gastrointestinal parasites, bacterial and stealth pathogens, environmental moulds (molds), viral pathogens and tick-borne pathogens – you can see all of them here. If an IgG antibody is present, it doesn’t show a current infection, but it suggests there is a hidden or latent pathogenic problem that may well be causing you problems or acting as a trigger.
It can also be a good idea to consider levels of known toxic chemicals in your system. Could you have a high levels of something like glyphosate (Round Up) in your system that is triggering cross-reactivity to organs and tissues maybe or messing about with your gut flora, hormones etc? To check that, see the Glyphosate and GPLTOX tests here and maybe also check Cyrex 11 for any clues that you are immunologically reacting to any of the most common ones. In other words, you can now check for presence and immune reaction to them.
For much more on this whole complex field, do read the TGF site in Resources above, and download the Gluten Plan for full testing and treatment protocols. You can read much more about the Gluten Plan here.
Note: I am just about also to list the new RealTime Labs Mycotoxins Test which measures the 15 most common toxins coming from indoor moulds (molds). It’s not cheap but at least we can get it now if you need it as some of you have been asking. Watch this space.
Hope it helps.
After researching on the Web for mycotoxins, I found this. What are your thoughts? https://www.quackwatch.org/11Ind/hooper.html
Ah the lovely Quackwatch, Dianna. I think if you look, pretty much every lab and main practitioner in natural medicine has been targeted at some point. I did query all this and agree the results should be taken in context with other results, like the gene expression, IgG mould panels etc, and not taken that the presence of a mycotoxin means that person has a problem with it. It is all in the symptom and illness picture interpretation, but I thought it important enough and to have enough behind it to offer as one of the possible jigsaw pieces in unresolving chronic illness. Thanks for checking. We are planning to do a mould illness factsheet on the whole issue but I was asked for this test specifically recently by someone so have listed it now.