Blood tests are an important portion of the tests that need to be run if someone wants to try and reverse the autoimmune disease process. When the right blood work is run, you will also get a sense of why you developed the autoimmune disease in the first place.
Usually, the blood work that someone gets done has nothing to do with autoimmune disease. Other than trying to look for specific antibodies if autoimmune disease is suspected. Because we know so much about what causes immune system dysregulation, we know what blood tests to run.
These will include tests for a few vitamins and minerals. A very close look at hormones. An in depth look for chronic infections. Celiac testing if someone doesn’t already have celiac disease.
As we have discussed before, not only do the right tests need to be run but the interpretation needs to be done correctly. The ideal levels of the tests run will be discussed in future blog posts.
We have so many wonderful tests now a days. If we test, then we don’t need to guess. Even if a guess is an educated guess, it is still a guess. And if someone guesses wrong, then they are wasting time, money and effort.
The blood work that needs to be typically run, can be done through about any lab or any hospital. Anywhere in the United States. Just about anywhere in the developed world. It really is not very special, you just have to know where to look.
This second list are the tests looking for infections.
You can see how extensive the blood work will typically need to be if you want to get a good handle on exactly what is going on with the autoimmune process. But also, empowered by this information, appropriate interventions can be done to turn around the disease process. This will also be the information needed to prevent a person from getting new diseases on top of the ones they already have.
“Got a Revolution, got to Revolution.” Jefferson Airplane
Dr. David Bilstrom
Autoimmune Functional Medicine Doctor
