An additional benefit to undergoing comprehensive blood, DNA and urine tests is that nutritionists and doctors can identify new and better ways to control illnesses and improve health through diets tailored to an individual’s unique genetic make-up and state of wellness. Personalized patient care through lab testing will soon become the standard in today’s medical world.

Comprehensive Metabolic Panel

Sometimes known as a Comprehensive Wellness Test, a Comprehensive Wellness Panel or Comprehensive Wellness Profile (CWP), a Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP) is a full battery of tests that analyze the levels of various enzymes, proteins, and minerals in the blood.

The results of a CMP help doctors get a big picture view of a person’s overall state of health. Elevated levels or abnormal ratios of different blood components can be critical for helping doctors confirm or rule out a diagnosis of a wide variety of illnesses and conditions.

Most CMP screenings include an analysis of liver function, blood sugar levels, kidney function, electrolyte balance, thyroid function, bone health, and thyroid function.

General Wellness Testing

A general wellness test is a full battery of tests to help give doctors an overall picture of your health. Unlike a CMP, a General Wellness Test usually consists of giving both a blood and urine sample for analysis.

The results of a General Wellness Test can help determine critical factors about your lifestyle, diet and overall health. While not specific enough to pinpoint diseases, a general wellness test is a great way to identify problems before they become serious as well as areas of success.

General Wellness Tests are becoming increasingly popular as part of regular check-ups as they give your doctor baseline information to monitor and track changes in your health.

Genetic Testing for Diet

One of the latest trends in personalized lab testing is undergoing genetic analysis to help determine an ideal diet customized to a person’s unique genetic makeup and metabolic factors.

By taking a swab of cheek cells, the field of nutrigenomics (improving diet through genetic analysis) can help identify a person’s genetic makeup and use this information to create a tailored diet. Doctors already understand that genes play an important role in metabolic function, enzyme production, and hormone levels. It is thought that nutrigenomics can help nutritionists and doctors give personalized recommendations of an ideal diet for maintaining a healthy weight and nutritional intake.

Better Patient Care

A lot of people are now using wearable tracking devices to create extensive records about their daily activity, sleep patterns, and other useful health information. Lab tests have a similar benefit. By regularly getting your blood and urine checked, you and your doctor will be better equipped to understand important changes in enzyme, metabolic function, organ function, and blood sugar levels that could help identify the onset of an illness, organ damage, and other problems before they become serious.

Genetic testing, comprehensive metabolic panels and general wellness tests are also useful methods for analyzing exactly how well your body is functioning, your general state of nutrition, and identifying which factors could be contributing to obesity, illness, or other aspects of poor health. This information can then be used by your doctor to diagnose any problems that you’re having and improve patient care.

Being armed with specific detailed numbers about how well your organs, arteries, and metabolic system is functioning is also a great way to identify areas of success. An important component to maintaining good health is receiving positive feedback about what you’re doing right. Even if you are currently in good health now, comprehensive lab tests are a great tool for monitoring fluctuations and changes as you go through life. If health issues do occur later on, your doctor will have invaluable information about your own unique personal health to help accurately diagnose illnesses or other problems.

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Below are some of the newest fertility advancements:

Cell Free DNA Testing

Scientists have developed a new technique to analyze fetal DNA without having to extract cells. Certain at-risk women, such as women age 35 years or older and women with a history of certain chromosome disorders, can now be tested as early as the first trimester of their pregnancy. The new technique, known as cffDNA (cell-free fetal DNA) works by gathering and analyzing material directly from the mother’s blood, looking for DNA released by the placenta.

Uterine Transplants

In June 2015, a young woman who had her ovaries removed as a teenager was able to successfully carry a pregnant to term after having her womb re-attached. This is an extremely important breakthrough because it provides a method for women to have their uterus removed prior to undergoing chemotherapy and other therapies and then have the uterus re-attached in the future when conditions for being pregnant are more favorable.

The first woman to bring a baby to term after undergoing uterus transplantation suffered from an acute form of the blood disorder sickle-cell anemia, which required a treatment that significantly damaged her uterus.

Ovarian Transplants

Along with new breakthroughs in uterine transplants, scientists have made much more progress in the preservation and transplantation of ovarian tissue in order to boost fertility rates for women with cancer. A recent study in Denmark froze ovarian tissue for 32 women who were suffering from cancer. After the cancer therapy had been completed, the women had their frozen ovarian tissue transplanted back into their bodies, and 10 out of the 32 women successfully brought a pregnancy to term.

Starting at puberty, women will be able to have their ovaries frozen for later use. Women facing medical treatments that could potentially lower their fertility will be able to freeze their frozen ovaries transplanted when conditions for pregnancy are more favorable. Cryogenically preserving eggs is already an established procedure and currently available to the general public.

Babies with Three Parents

In 2015, Britain changed its law to permit mitochrondrial donation for pregnancies involving women who suffer from mitochrondrial diseases. The change in the law now permits women who suffer from mitochrondrial disease to be eligible for IVF (in-vitro fertilization) treatments, using a third “parent” to donate healthy mitochrondria so that the resulting pregnancy will not inherit the mother’s mitochrondrial disease.

Although technically DNA from three individuals is used to create a pregnancy using this technique, mitochrondria is not responsible for individual traits, so there is no effective change in parentage for the resulting pregnancy.

Gene Editing

Scientists have developed a new tool called CRISPR-Cas9 (clustered regularly-interspaced palindromic repeats – associated protein 9) to directly edit DNA. While the CRISPR technology has existed for a few years, the new Cas9 version allows scientists to cut and replace specific DNA sequences.

Although this technology is still being developed, it is expected that gene editing will be able to strip out certain mutant genes responsible for a variety of inherited diseases and replace them with healthy versions. If this technology can be perfected, babies will no longer be at risk for a wide range of congenital diseases, including cystic fibrosis, Down syndrome, Huntington’s disease, and Marfan syndrome.

Treatments for PCOS

PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome) can affect a woman’s fertility, including her hormone levels, ovulation, and menstrual cycle. It is estimated that approximately 10% of women in the United States are affected by PCOS. In 2015, scientists reported success using a new drug called letrozole (Femara) in treating PCOS in mice. This drug has not been evaluated by the FDA for general use in treating PCOS but a number of individual practitioners have used it with their clients and there is anecdotal evidence that Letrozole has achieved some success. Letrozole is currently approved only as a treatment for breast cancer.

Should future drug trials ultimately result in Letrozole becoming approved for human use, women affected by PCOS will be able to improve their fertility success rates, and have a greater chance of successfully ovulating and bringing a pregnancy to term. Currently, women with PCOS are advised to maintain a healthy weight, refrain from smoking, and closely monitor their ovulation to improve their fertility. Research is currently being conducted for other non-medication treatments in order to boost fertility rates for women with PCOS.

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Many diet labs are now offering a new test that examines your DNA in order to discover the best diet for your unique needs. According to the claims by a number of diet lab companies, they will analyze your DNA and then give you a full report telling you what supplements you need, and exactly what diet best works for your genetic markers to help you lose weight and stay healthy

For decades, diet labs have analyzed blood and urine samples in order to reveal nutritional deficiencies and markers that can indicate the onset of common dietary-related diseases like high cholesterol, blood glucose levels, and thyroid gland activity. Now, many diet labs are claiming that they can analyze a simple Q-tip swab of the DNA cells in your cheek to craft the perfect diet.

This Emerging Field is Called Nutrigenomics.

While early results look promising, it is still too soon for experts to conclude whether or not it is possible to design a better diet simply by analyzing a person’s DNA. Some doctors support nutrigenomics because it is already established that genes control enzyme levels, metabolism, and hormone production. It is a reasonable assumption that understanding how an individual uniquely metabolizes and processes foods can help determine how many calories they need and any deficiencies in nutrition that can be addressed with the use of supplements. Furthermore, many common conditions such as Type 2 diabetes and certain forms of coronary disease are already known to be heavily influenced by inherited genetic factors

Using a DNA Test to Create a Customized Diet. 

Supporters of nutrigenomics say that an analysis of an individual’s DNA can be used to successfully design a diet to help keep them healthy and at a good weight. For example, conventional wisdom recommends that people eat a low fat diet if they have a history of heart disease in their family and/or have high levels of the so-called “bad” LDL cholesterol. Likewise, a low-carbohydrate diet may be recommended for individuals whose DNA reveals that they have high blood pressure or abnormal levels of triglycerides.

DNA tests can also reveal the presence of, or lack thereof, of certain enzymes. Some people may be unaware that they are lactose or gluten intolerant, so a DNA test can reveal important clues about how to eat a balanced diet. DNA tests can also reveal the presence of certain markers that will put some people at a higher risk of developing inflammatory diseases or diabetes, giving them advanced warning to make changes in their diet in order to stay healthy.

Is DNA Diet Testing Worth It? 

One advantage that DNA testing at a diet lab has over more traditional analyses from blood and urine samples is that you do not need to be present at the lab to give a sample. Most diet labs offer a simple mail-in kit where you take two cotton swabs (Q-tips) and send your sample off to the laboratory to be analyzed. While some diet labs charge a steep premium for their services, the price can often be far lower than traditional blood and urine analysis.

The verdict is still out on whether DNA testing to create a perfect diet is effective, however, many people believe that the low cost and simple process of mailing a cheek swab sample is worth a try. Certain DNA markers can reveal deficiencies in enzyme or hormone production, giving people valuable information about which types of foods or supplements are best for their unique needs. Other experts downplay the value of DNA diet testing, believing that eating a healthy, balanced diet outweighs the benefits of any special insights revealed by analyzing a person’s genes.

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