Did you know that Naturopathic Doctors can order many of the same diagnostic tests that Family Physicians run? They can run tests for the whole family that may include blood work, stool, urine and saliva testing.
Your Naturopathic Doctor may recommend certain tests depending on each individual patient, however, it is recommended to have annual testing done to track your health trends, meet YOUR optimal levels and to be preventative before a chronic disease (that may require medication) occurs.
Your Family Physician may recommend different timelines, based on the general population, but as a Private Healthcare provider in Ontario, we recommend more frequent testing. These baseline testings can include iron panel, cholesterol & triglycerides, thyroid panel, CBC & B12, liver enzymes, kidney, Vitamin D3 and blood glucose. Your Naturopathic Doctor will monitor you throughout your life, and recommendations will change based on age, ethnicity and personal/family history.
On top of this, Naturopathic Doctors can recommend functional based tests that take a more in-depth look at a system. For example, blood serum hormone testing gives us a snapshot of your hormones in your blood, when it is drawn. However, we know that hormones have a diurnal variation throughout the month and a snapshot does not give us much insight of how hormones are being produced, broken down and used in the body. Testing along with symptoms and health history, can allow your Naturopathic Doctor to diagnose and treat according to your needs!
