One of the benefits to having a well rounded health team is having access to modern day laboratory tests. In most cases, if you have a good diet and you come from a generally healthy background, its likely that the cause of disease is genetic or from environmental factors. Most illness is multifactorial, and requires a holistic approach.
Blood work is particularly useful to help identify organ functionality, hormone levels, and inflammatory markers. I am always curious about thyroid, liver and kidney function.
However, it is interesting to note that if you have blood work that is showing up markers of illness, a few questions by an astute practitioner would be able to pick up these irregularities before blood work showed a result. This is vital if you want to take preventive health measures.
The origin of disease can fall into the following categories:
- malnutrition - the main cause of disease, even in the western world
- mental/emotional stress – often overlooked as important. Includes trauma.
- Predisposed -you are born with the disease or you will develop the condition later on in life. Iridology is a wonderful tool to help identify genetic weakness.
- Environmental factors - pollution, toxins, electromagnetic radiation, radiation, medications, personal care products, amalgam fillings, sugar, processed foods, poor hygiene, poor living conditions, lack of clean water
I ask my clients many questions, for example:
Age/Weight/height
Diet (being as specific as you can) including all drinks
Exercise
Bowel/urination habits
Circulation – cold hands and feet is a good indicator, easy bruising, and varicose/spider veins
Sleep patterns
Energy – too much/too little – and the ability to relax
Hormone issues/history- A thyroid/adrenal/hypothalamus axis imbalance is very obvious to most holistic practitioners.
Medical History/ Medication
Supplements
Trauma History
Recent emotional upsets - and this can include irrational crying or angry outbursts and relationship drama.
Blood work is always a good idea if symptoms persist, or if you are suspicious of something not feeling right. Thermal imaging is another non invasive assessment tool that can be used to identify problems in the body. Make sure that you have a good relationship with your doctor.
