An inexpensive and non-invasive way to test the levels of both essential elements and toxic elements on the body.
Key Advantages
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Measurement of hair toxic and essential elements
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Analysis by ICP-MS
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Requires only 0.25 g hair
This price includes a pre-test appointment, the test itself and a post-test appointment to ensure you understand your results.
Introduction
Extensive research has 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 assessing 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.
Why Hair?
With respect to its contained elements, hair is essentially an excretory tissue rather than a functional tissue. Hair element analysis provides important information which, in conjunction with symptoms and other laboratory values, can assist with the early detection of physiological disorders associated with aberrations in essential and toxic element metabolism.
As protein is synthesised in the hair follicle, elements are incorporated permanently into the hair with no further exchange or equilibration 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.
Essential 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
Conclusion
Hair element analysis is a valuable and inexpensive screen for physiological excess, deficiency or mal distribution of elements. It should not be considered a standalone diagnostic test for essential element function, and should be used in conjunction with patient symptoms and other laboratory tests.