See the Brain Tests Factsheet for more info if needed.

Cognition/Dementia/Alzheimer's

There are lots of ways of testing for cognitive issues, see my Brain Factsheet here for ideas.

The best way to proceed with this if you have a family history of dementia/Alzheimer's especially, or your cognition tests on the factsheet above are a bit poor, I think, is to read Dr Bredesden's book The End of Alzheimer's here.

Colabs do all the Bredesden test panels here. These are looking for biochemical markers that might demonstrate/exacerbate or cause cognitive issues.

For prevention, use the PreCode Panel, see more info and a sample report here.

If symptoms have already started, the best test is the full Recode Panel. See more info and a sample report for here.

You can do repeat 6 month and 12 month panels too, which is recommended. I've listed the main panels, but if you need one of the others, just ask me/send me a lab test request form and I'll confirm the price etc..Do bear in mind Colab shipping charges (to get the kit to you and have samples collected from you by courier and shipped abroad) can be quite high as they use Medical Express often to make sure the sample you send is as fresh and viable as possible, which is important with their complex type tests. I'll advise you of shipping costs before I place an order just to check if I think it is high.

You can find a Bredesden protocol practitioner here, although it didn't seem to work well for the UK, so maybe Google in your area too.

The Cyrex Alzheimer's Linx test is also brilliant for finding possible causes of cognitive decline and can help you target treatment very specifically to address anything found. It is looking really for anything that is causing immune responses that can trigger or exacerbate brain decline. You can read a great guide to it here. They are testing the highest risk factors known (to date!) to be contributing factors that may result in neurodegeneration, cognitive decline and/ or Alzheimer’s disease.

Neuro Autoimmune Antibodies

Look at the Cyrex 5 or 7x on the Cyrex page, plus the Cyrex 20 for blood brain barrier permeability ie leaky brain.

Neurotransmitters

It can be hard to find what is at the heart of mental health issues. It can involve nutrient imbalance, lack of essential fatty acids, thyroid and adrenal hypofunction, hormones and many other issues. One big place to begin looking is an imbalance of neurotransmitters such as serotonin, GABA, dopamine etc. Even some chronic pain syndromes like migraine, cluster headaches, fibromyalgia etc can have these imbalances at least as a factor – often a big one.

Here is a useful neurotransmitters rundown which might help. Also, an explanation of when to do first morning, second morning or 24 hour sample.

In general the Labrix Neurotransmitter Basic will be enough for most people. It covers the key neurotransmitters and will answer most questions. If you want more advanced, you would choose the DD Comprehensive Neurotransmitters test. For pyroluria use Viva Labs Kryptopyrroles. Histamine is included in the basic and comprehensive panels. All of those can be ordered on the shop here or direct at the lab via those links.

I've also put the Walsh test on the shop for you, which includes serum copper, serum ceruloplasmin, plasma zinc and whole blood histamine. Click that link for a sample report and collection instructions are here.

You can read more about NT testing generally here on my Brain Testing factsheet.

Testing Tips...

Q: Why is the histamine done in plasma and not whole blood?

A: I am aware that eg. Walsh protocol advises whole blood histamine, but I checked with the labs: "We used to measure whole blood histamine levels but discontinued it in favour of plasma or urine histamine both of which we believe are more sensitive tests for histamine levels (plasma and urine are equally reliable). I know that the Walsh protocol is quite strict on the sample requirements, but in practice we don’t have any problems finding either high or low levels of histamine using the plasma and urine tests."

Q: Do I need to freeze my kryptopyrrole samples?

A: Always follow the test guidelines, but here is a general reply I got from Biolab years ago in case it helps.

"There’s no harm in freezing kryptopyrrole samples if a patient prefers to do that, but we have looked at this closely and samples left on the lab bench at ambient temperature do not decrease their kryptopyrrole value over a period of 5-10 days. Sensitivity to light and adding ascorbic acid to the sample are more important in terms of kryptopyrrole preservation.

Some people are so concerned about this they even send the samples on dry-ice to us from outside of the UK, but if we leave the samples at ambient temperature and re-test a week later the results are the same. Some other labs measure slightly different compounds (HPL etc) to diagnose pyroluria and it is possible that these compounds are more temperature sensitive.

Freezing doesn’t do any harm, so we welcome frozen samples if the patient/practitioner prefers this option."

Q: My kryptopyrrole results say they are within reference range yet you have said I may still have a problem. Why?

A: If the symptoms suggest it, may be worth a Zinc & B6 trial to see if it helps symptoms.

Q: Can I do Neurotransmitter testing on children?

A: Yes. Labrix tests can be used for children 0-16.

Q: Do I have to stop any supplements before testing?

A: Go by the collection instructions in each test kit from the lab as they all vary. I generally say off zinc and B6 for a week before testing for pyroluria, but some labs say there is no need. I like to be cautious! You can see the Lab test FAQ here: https://purehealthshop.ecwid.com/FAQ-p237219413 for more on this topic.