Hair Analysis

 

ADVANCED APPLIED NUTRITIONAL

EVALUATIONS AND CORRECTIONS

 

What You Should Know About

HAIR TISSUE MINERAL ANALYSIS

 

WHAT IS HAIR TISSUE MINERAL ANALYSIS?

Hair tissue mineral analysis is a sophisticated laboratory technique used in preventative medicine for assessing mineral imbalances and toxicities in the human body.  Utilizing this general diagnostic screening technique, information regarding the following nutritional minerals and toxic metals can be assessed with greater accuracy than by any other diagnostic method:

 Nutritional Minerals:                                                 Toxic Metals:

Boron            Iron                    Potassium                 Aluminum      Lead           Thallium

Calcium         Lithium              Sulphur                      Antimony       Mercury    Thorium

Chromium    Magnesium      Selenium                   Arsenic           Platinum    Nickel

Cobalt            Manganese      Sodium                      Barium            Tin               Silver

Copper          Molybdenum  Strontium                 Rubidium        Uranium     Titanium

Germanium Vanadium        Zinc                            Bismuth          Zirconium

Iodine            Phosphorus                                        Cadmium       Beryllium

 

 WHY SHOULD YOU HAVE A HAIR ANALYSIS PERFORMED?

 

In the past few years, trace mineral nutrition and metabolism has been found to play a significant role in the maintenance of human health and the implications of trace mineral nutrition today are comparable to the explosion of information which occurred with regard to vitamin nutrition in the 1920’s and 30’s.

A mineral analysis should be considered for the following reasons:

• Marginal or very marked deficiencies of zinc, chromium and iron have been recognized widely in human population in developed countries, indicating that your diet may not supply adequate amounts of all the minerals you require.
• Many metabolic problems have been related to deficiencies of one or more of these essential trace elements, i.e. a deficiency of copper is seen in some forms of anemia; deficiencies of zinc may result in impaired wound healing, skin changes and growth retardation in children; and deficiencies of chromium have been associated with blood sugar disturbances and insulin sensitivity, etc.
• Trace mineral deficiencies may occur despite high dietary intakes due to sub-optimal nutrient absorption because of such factors as inappropriate stomach acid secretion, malabsorption, presence of phytates and other substances in the diet which inhibit absorption, interactions with other minerals.
• Toxic metal accumulations in the body such as aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury may interfere with proper vitamin and mineral utilization and can induce unfavourable metabolic consequences, i.e. neurological and psychomotor dysfunction from chronic lead intoxication, aluminum overload and mercury toxicity, hypertension from excessive cadmium stores, lead induced anemia, saturnine gout from excessive lead exposure, etc.
• From evidence accumulating in the trace mineral research area, it seems possible that birth defects of unknown causation may be related to nutritional factors.
• A multitude of signs and symptoms may be indicative of a mineral imbalance including fatigue, headaches, depression, irritability, nervousness, recurrent infections, periodontal disease, etc.
• Many drugs can affect mineral metabolism including diuretics which influence sodium/potassium balance, and oral contraceptives which affect zinc, copper, magnesium and iron levels.
• There are over 3,000 enzyme (biochemical) reactions that ultimately control metabolism and at least 85% of these depend upon selective trace minerals for their activity.  Therefore, inadequate mineral balance may result in sub-optimal health.
• Hair tissue mineral analysis is responsive not only to trace mineral levels in the diet but to all other factors which influence their metabolism including stress, exercise, endocrine and gastrointestinal function, etc.

WHO SHOULD HAVE A HAIR ANALYSIS?

 

Preventative oriented health practitioners recommend that everyone, especially children, should have their hair analyzed at least once per year and a measure for early detection of imbalances and/or toxicities.  In this manner, individualized nutritional and lifestyle programs can be instituted to correct minor metabolic imbalances before they become advanced metabolic disease conditions.  Special cases may warrant monitoring on a more frequent basis, (three to six months), i.e. those people on prolonged drug therapy, those with advanced metabolic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, diabetes, etc., and clients on detoxification and specific treatment programs.

ARE HEALTH PROFESSIONALS UTILIZING HAIR ANALYSIS?

Yes, hair analysis laboratories have extensive lists of nutritionally oriented doctors who utilize their services.  However, it is not simply the performing of a hair analysis that is important but instead it is the interpretation and subsequent follow-up to correct metabolic imbalances that is of prime importance.  This requires specialized training and thus this procedure is suited more to the holistic and nutritional type practices and those practitioners involved in preventive medicine like Chrystyanna and Angelique.

You as the client have the satisfaction of knowing that practitioners utilizing hair tissue mineral analysis are using one of the most advanced valuable screening techniques, especially when used in conjunction with blood and urine analysis and dietary surveys.  Research into the application and interpretation of hair analysis is continuing to improve and emphasize its use as a valid health care tool.

Should you have any questions regarding Hair Analysis, please call Communication House for Chrystyanna or Angelique. 250-652-9582

HOW IS HAIR ANALYZED?

Approximately 2 tablespoons (about 1 gram) of your hair is taken from the recent growth of hair at the nape of the neck.  Confirmation of environmental or other toxic metal exposure in some cases may require an analysis of pubic hair (which is not routinely used) to rule out contamination of scalp hair by commercial preparations, e.g. certain shampoos, tints, permanents and other hair treatments).  Your sample is analyzed by reputable laboratories using highly sophisticated and expensive laboratory equipment such as emission spectrophotometry, a method which can analyze for trace elements as low as a few parts per billion.  Both Communication House and the client are provided with a computerized copy of the results plus  a 180 page interpretation of the analysis.

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF HAIR TISSUE ANLYSIS OVER BLOOD, URINE, OR OTHER TISSUE ANALYSIS?

Research has shown that hair, more than blood or urine, closely reflects the minerals the body is acumulating, particularly in cases of toxic metal exposure (often the hair will indicate toxicity when the blood or urine will not).  Hair is the second most metabolically active tissue in the body (second only to bone marrow) and trace elements in particular are accumulated in hair at concentrations that are generally 10 – 50  times higher than those present in blood or urine.  Certain blood mineral levels, i.e. serum calcium or serum iron can many times not reflect the true status of the nutrient because the blood is heavily buffered against significant changes in these concentrations.

Also, whereas blood and urine chemical analysis identifies the level of chemical constituents at a specific instant in time, hair trace mineral analysis measures the deposition of elements averaged over a 3 month period.  This affords hair trace element analysis the unique perspective of assessing metabolic fitness and monitoring metabolic trends.

Also, blood is an extracellular transporting medium for substances in the body and urine. It is indicative only of what the body is eliminating, not what is being stored.  Hair, however, represents intracellular deposition of minerals and is in essence a living biopsy specimen.

Hair tissue mineral analysis is a non-invasive and biologically stable sampling technique which avoids the discomfort of other tissue biopsies.

(Napoleon’s hair analyzed in 1961 contained approximately 100 times the usual value for arsenic, implicating he may have been slowly poisoned).

Hair analysis provides enough evidence to allow one to probe the molecular matrix of the patient in a very subtle biochemical manner.