The second thing to think of when considering the cause of digestive problems like IBS, GERD/Reflux/Heart Burn, Gastroenteritis, Colitis is extremely important and often overlooked.  When addressed appropriately it can completely transform digestive problems.  This is assuming one has been assessed by an appropriate medical expert to rule out any disease process that needs immediate attention.

The second thing to think of when someone is dealing with digestive problems is an imbalance in the gut microflora, called dysbiosis.  The first is food allergies or food sensitivities (food irritants).  Once food irritants are addressed the next step to heal the gut is to balance the gut bugs.

The inside of the digestive tract, even though it goes through the middle of your body, is still considered the outside world.  The digestive tract is a wet and warm tube that bugs love to live in.  Some of these bugs help in digestion and some harm your experience of digestion.  The key is to have the bugs in balance.

Balancing the gut microflora is the key to helping heal the gut once you have removed all the irritants.  To balance the bugs you first need to know what bugs are out of balance.  This brings the question of how do we best assess the state of the gut microflora.  We use multiple tests in our office to get a better understanding of the gut microflora and direct our treatment plans.

One of the latest greatest ways of assessing the gut microflora is MALDI/TOF (matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry).  MALDI/TOF may become the standard method for species identification in medical microbiological laboratories over the next few years.[1]  Doctors Data is the lab we use for this, read more here.

This test is helpful in understanding:
• Gastrointestinal Symptoms
• Autoimmune Disease
• IBD/IBS
• Inflammation
• Food Sensitivities
• Nutritional Deficiencies
• Skin Conditions (Atopic Dermatitis)
• Joint Pain

Once we know the state of your gut micro flora we can create a plan to balance these bugs and we see immediate shifts in digestive symptoms.  Any of the following symptoms suggest you would benefit from getting tested:

Gas/Bloating
Reflux/Heart Burn
Nausea
Diarrhea
Constipation
Pain
Belching
Skin irritation

If you are experiencing digestive symptoms we can usually help.  We can help even better once we know the state of the bugs in your gut.  Call today to see what testing might be best in helping you with your digestive problems.  604.737.0012

[1] (Seng, P.; Drancourt, M.; Gouriet, F.; La Scola, B.; Fournier, P. E.; Rolain, J. M.; Raoult, D. (2009). “Ongoing revolution in bacteriology: routine identification of bacteria by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry”. Clinical Infectious Diseases 49 (4): 552–3. doi:10.1086/600885. PMID 19583519.)