April 12, 2005
SpectraCell FIA Nutrient Testing
Methods
A functional intracellular lymphocyte analysis from SpectraCell
was performed on 328 patients of all ages who had multiple disease
states who presented to a private internal medicine clinic in 1997.
Patients were offered the test if they were on any medication other
than replacement hormones, had current chronic symptoms of disease not
responsive to treatment, or had known progressive chronic disease. The
initial purpose of the study was to document the cellular deficiencies
in an average outpatient population in an area with 23% excessive
deaths from cancer, and cardiovascular disease and 37% from diabetes
and to discover if any correlates to this excessive disease pattern
existed. Eight categories of disease states were tabulated for each
patient. The disease categories were cancer, hypertension,
cardiovascular disease, diabetes or glucose intolerance, neurological,
psychiatric, inflammatory, and GI disease.
Results
The deficiencies found in the 23 assays available are in table
1. The results are further tabulated by age and compared to over 20,000
specimens submitted to the lab on an international basis in 1997. The
top 5 deficiencies noted in our local population were calcium (44%),
glucose-insulin receptor dysfunction (33%), glutathione (33%), zinc
(24%), and cysteine (23%). 75% of the patients had antioxidant
functions below normal. B6 and folate, both implicated in
cardiovascular disease, were 17% deficient in both age groups. The
elderly population was significantly more deficient that the younger
patients in the local population in thiamin, biotin, serine, inositol,
oleic acid, glucose insulin dysfunction, calcium., glutathione, and
cysteine.
Cancer history in our patients correlated statistically to age,
thiamin, and cysteine deficiency. Inflammatory disease history
correlated to deficiencies in antioxidant function, B6, glucose-insulin
interaction, zinc magnesium, and concurrent GI and neurological
disease. Known atherosclerotic disease correlated to age, B1, B6,
fructose intolerance, and serine deficiencies, and concurrent diabetes,
neurological disease, hypertension and GI disease. Diabetes correlated
to age and all disease states except for inflammation. Psychiatric
manifestations correlated to B2, B3, biotin, glutathione deficiencies,
and concurrent GI, neurological and diabetic conditions. Neurological
disease correlates to aging, and deficiencies in antioxidant function
B2, B3, serine and inositol with all of the disease states categories.
Hypertension correlates with aging, deficiencies of inositol and oleic
acid, and concurrent neurological, atherosclerotic, diabetic,
psychiatric and GI disease.
Discussion Points for Use in a Wellness Program:
implications for DNA repair and correlation to disease in the
Houston/Galveston area may be related to low levels of these nutrients
in the population. A prevention trial is already underway at the NIH
for colon cancer prevention using a similar essential amino acid to
cysteine.
to these nutrients exist. Would a multiple vitamin with minerals and
antioxidants and an NAC daily along with increased dietary education
influence the disease modification in your population? It certainly has
modified the cost of care in this population lowering bed days/1000
outpatient procedure costs, outpatient visits referrals to specialists
and total health cost reduction in our clinic models. Patients are
exhibiting increased quality of life and are generally pleased with the
outcome. Combined with a few relaxation techniques, the total cost of
health care can be lowered substantially by implementing a Wellness
Solutions approach.