CARE BioMarkers

CARE Clinics is unique in that we perform the most comprehensive lab testing available, which allows us to objectively identify your child’s specific, individual needs. This comprehensive evaluation is called CARE BioMarkers™.   These tests help to identify subtle abnormalities that may prevent your child’s ability to achieve optimal health.

The following is a list of CARE BioMarkers™:

Genomic testing: Cutting edge research and technology allows us to identify subtle changes that may exist in your child’s DNA, which can impair many important bodily functions. Some areas we specifically evaluate include genetic predispositions for detoxification impairment, immune dysregulation, brain chemistry dysregulation, blood clotting abnormalities, and vitamin D impairments.

When identified, the effect of these subtle changes can be gently treated and even normalized by specific nutritional programs. Combining genomic testing with the biomarkers listed below provides us with a comprehensive understanding of your child, allowing us to create a truly personalized treatment program.

Amino Acid testing: Amino acids are the basic building blocks for everything in the human body: life basically starts with amino acids. Below is a list of proteins and chemicals that are made from amino acids; they can become deficient or imbalanced when their corresponding amino acids are deficient: 

• Brain chemicals (neurotransmitters) -  these are involved in cognition and mood, and also govern many bodily functions such as digestion and the stress response
• Enzymes – these proteins allow every chemical reaction in the body to take place; critical enzymes that we evaluate are used by the liver to remove toxins from the body
• Receptors – these proteins are located on the surface of cells and organs throughout the body; these receptors mediate the activity of critical chemical messengers; the most common examples are receptors for each of the hormones and neurotransmitters
• Immune system cells – the immune system is made up of proteins that fight against infection and modulate inflammation in the body; abnormal immune function can lead to chronic infections, increased inflammation, and auto-immunity

Deficiencies of these critical nutrients are common in the children we treat for a variety of reasons. Many children will not eat certain foods, which may prevent the ingestion of many essential amino acids. Also, digestion may be significantly impaired, which can prevent the ability of the body to absorb these nutrients from their diet. Identifying deficiencies of these critical nutrients is imperative to optimizing your child’s health.

Organic Acid testing: Organic acids are created by chemical reactions that occur every day in the body. Measuring organic acids allows us to evaluate your child’s chemistry, providing us insight into a number of very important functions in the body. These functions include areas like energy production, brain chemistry, detoxification ability and digestion. Organic acids also contribute to our understanding of your child’s need for particular vitamins and minerals, which combines well with our genomic testing.

Essential Fatty Acid testing: There are several classes of fats that are critical for normal cellular function in the body. One of the most important types of fats that we measure is unsaturated fats (Omega 3, Omega 6 and Omega 9). These so-called, “good fats” are important building blocks in the structure of the cell wall. They allow for normal cell communication, and transport both nutrients into the cell and toxins out of the cell.

Unsaturated fats are also important for decreasing inflammation in the body. Inflammation can occur in many parts of the body and may alter cognitive function and mood. We also perform a comprehensive evaluation of saturated fats (“bad fats”), which are inherently pro-inflammatory.

Oxidative Stress testing: Oxidative stress is produced in everyone, everyday, as a result of normal metabolism. However, oxidative stress is toxic, and must be eliminated properly to prevent damage in the body (including damage to the central nervous system).
Children commonly experience two challenges in this process: first, they tend to produce more oxidative stress than is considered normal; and second, they tend to have difficulty eliminating oxidative stress. Therefore, measuring and monitoring oxidative stress is imperative, as it helps us to both identify its over-production, and to prescribe appropriate antioxidants and detoxification protocols for its proper elimination.

Vitamin and Mineral testing: Vitamins and minerals are essential nutrients for the normal functioning of every cell in the body. Routine testing of these nutrients is typically performed in the serum, which is grossly inadequate for our purposes. Serum is a liquid portion of the blood that does not include the blood cell. It might be helpful to think of it this way: picture a glass of water with marbles in this glass. Generally speaking, the water is the serum and the marbles are the blood cells. This is important to note because vitamins and minerals are primarily utilized inside blood cells, and not in the serum.

Therefore, to best understand your child’s need for vitamins and minerals we start by measuring these nutrients inside the cell. To have the most comprehensive understanding, we also assess the function of these nutrients inside the cell, and include information gathered from the genomic testing, which may predispose your child to need even higher amounts of these nutrients. Together, these assessments provide us the most robust analysis available, so that we can prescribe the most accurate vitamin and mineral prescription for your child.

Heavy Metal testing: Heavy metals are associated with many chronic conditions, including those known to commonly affect children. Mercury, antimony, lead, arsenic, and cadmium are frequently identified. Probably the most infamous of heavy metals is mercury. Mercury is an extremely toxic metal that has been associated with autism, attention deficit disorder, allergies and other immune dysfunctions, to name a few. Thimerasol, a preservative still used in some vaccines, contains mercury and continues to be controversial within the autism community.

The CARE Clinics team takes special care to measure heavy metals in the blood, urine, hair and stool. As nearly all of the children have heavy metal toxicity, we utilize gentle but effective treatments to detoxify these metals from the children and follow your child’s progress with these tests.

Food, Inhalant and Mold Allergy testing:

Food Allergy testing:
Food allergies are very common. Some allergic reactions to foods occur within minutes of eating. A common example of this type of reaction would be when a person eats shellfish, their throat swells and it becomes difficult to breath. These allergies cause “immediate reactions”, and are mediated by one part of the immune systems (by antibodies referred to as “IgE”).

However, some allergic reactions to foods are delayed by up to three days. This means that when a person eats a particular food that causes this type of reaction, they may not experience symptoms related to that food until three days later. These types of reactions are very difficult to identify by observation, so specialized food allergy testing is used to diagnose them. Allergies that cause “delayed reactions” are mediated by a different part of the immune system (by antibodies referred to as “IgG”) than those that cause immediate reactions.

Inhalant and Mold Allergy testing:
Like food allergies, Inhalant and Mold allergies are very common. These reactions are primarily mediated by immediate reactions (IgE). Conventionally, these allergens are thought to only affect the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract (for example, classic hay fever). However, these allergens promote inflammation in the body at such high levels that symptoms can be systemic, and include mood and cognitive affects.

At CARE Clinics, both types of reactions (IgG and IgE) are analyzed by simple blood tests. Food, Inhalant and Mold allergies are associated with inflammation, mood dysregulation, hyperactivity, poor cognition, and digestive disturbance, to name a few.

Viral testing: All of us have chronic viral infections, most of which are harmless. As you read this document, your immune system is effectively keeping these infections in check. For the children, their immune system is overwhelmed by many different challenges, which result in these infections becoming active. This leads to aberrant immune function, which contributes to inflammation and destruction of the tissues of the body, including the nervous system.

In the children, we find many chronic viral infections are active, signifying a weakened state of their immune system. Our goal is to strengthen their immune system and to help them resolve these infections.

Gastrointestinal testing: The digestive tract has the awesome responsibility of absorbing all of the necessary nutrients required to survive. At the same time, it must not absorb many toxins and organisms that are present in the intestines. For this reason, the digestive tract must be healthy.

Unfortunately, most of the kids that we treat have from mild to severe symptoms that correspond with a dysfunction within the digestive tract. As a result of this dysfunction, an odd paradox occurs: they are unable to effectively absorb critical nutrients from their diet, but at the same time they absorb an excessively high amount of toxins.

For this reason, CARE Clinics uses gentle stool testing to identify dysfunction in the digestive tract. We also assess for the bacteria, yeast and parasites that often infect the children. In this way, we can most effectively correct the problems that may occur in your child’s digestive tract.

Routine testing: CARE Clinics also performs basic blood analysis that evaluates the health of the blood cell, liver function, kidney function, etc. These tests are commonly used in routine medical practice.