When you go to a GP in Australia, testing is restricted to medicare funding.
Only the basic tests are covered under the medicare bulk-billing program. Doctors are limited to send patients for advanced testing unless there is a very specific reason or a pre-diagnosed condition.
Furthermore, functional testing is rarely used because this explains the workings of your body, not pathological changed disease.
Since integrative medicine largely focuses on prevention, detecting disease early is better than waiting for disease to already establish.
Thankfully you can access thousands of functional pathology blood tests during a consultation. Testing can range from detailed stool testing, mould mycotoxins, pyrrole disorder testing, DUTCH hormone panels and almost any functional medicine test you can think of.
Once we establish in more detail what would help explain and identify your health issues, we can refer you for a huge range of detailed blood tests to help you get the optimal health you deserve.
Understanding which test is the best for your condition. Full blood testing, vitamin testing, tumor markers, thyroid autoimmunity? Your health might be caused from even nutrient toxicity. Let us use our experience to guide you by explaining the most helpful blood tests for you.
Once the right test is identified, we can refer you for it. We will also recommend diet changes, herbs and nutritionals to start making improvements. The results usually take around 2-3 weeks before a report is issued explaining your current health condition
Complete your tests and start making your dietary changes, add some herbal medicine and start feeling improvements. Things should start to improve and we can monitor the progress while waiting for the results to return from the tests.
Almost there. Review test results which have been completed and related symptoms. Which herbal medicines specifically will help? Which key nutritionals will make the biggest improvements to your symptoms? What has changed in your test results?
Success! You have reached your health goals with an integrative medicine and functional medicine approach. You have faster results achieved with guidance and experience because of an individual, personalised plan.