Heavy metal test, OAT, B-6 and B-12 questions

[Guest guest]

We met with a new neurodevelopmental pediatrician on Friday and she ordered a

heavy metal test ( serum ),Urine organic acids test and B-6 and B-12 levels. I

thought that a hair heavy metal test was better than serum is that right ? I am

sure that my son has mercury and arsenic issues, my mouth is filled with silver

fillings, I had a root canal while I was pregnant ( AUGH ! ), we used to

consumme rice and apples/ apple juice on a daily basis... It is depressing, it

is so surprising to me the things that I have learned these past 5 months. If

only I knew then what I know now... right ?

Also, is there any difference between an OAT test done by a lab that insurance

covers such has Labcorp or Quest versus a lab done by great plains laboratories

?

Do all kids with ASD have issues with B-6 and B-12 ? We have been supplementing

with spectrum complete from kirkmans for about 4 months now and I know that they

have so much B-6 abd B-12, will that affect the test results in any way?

Any questions that you can answer for me, I'm so appreciative so Thanks in

advance !

[Guest guest]

Hi,

You asked:

> Also, is there any difference between an OAT test done by a lab that insurance

covers such has Labcorp or Quest versus a lab done by great plains laboratories

?

>

Yes, there is a huge difference. I called Quest or Labcorp and spoke to their

scientist who makes policy on how the test is run. Both labs and ARUP seem to

have adopted a similar policy of rounding up or down to the nearest whole

number. For many analytes, that means they report zero levels even if the level

was something like 0.45 or they round up to one if is over 0.5. This makes

their reference ranges pretty useless and you lose so much precision. They said

their instruments actually produced about six significant digits so this made no

sense as policy to me. They really think the only way people are using this

test is to find inborn errors of metabolism that may elevate something a

thousand fold or such, and for that, you don't need precision. They are not

thinking that people use this test to look at variations in metabolism that

happen day to day.

This rounding of data that is normally only present in very tiny amounts really

leaves the wrong impression, and when I've seen test results on the same kids

from GPL and from the other labs , the Labcorp or Quest test was basically

worthless, but a lot could be figured out with the GPL test. Also, GPL has the

oxalate markers, and Metametrix and Genova do not.

So, I would NOT order the test from labcorp or quest.

Just my opinion.

[Guest guest]

I'm pretty sure a serum test only shows recent (or chronic exposure). So this would be useful in a case where you might suspect that your child is having an ongoing exposure (say for instance at home or school). Metals dont hang around the bloodstream too long before finding a nice comfy spot to settle into deep within tissue .

A hair test will show how well your child is able to excrete heavy metals by looking at mineral content. A healthier person will acutally show higher counts of heavy metals in a hair test (because their bodies are able to get rid of them). With a metal-toxic person, heavy metal counts will be low because the body ISN'T able to get rid of them. What you would typically see in that situation is a derangement in minerals. Once chelation takes place or the body is healthy enough to rid itself of the toxins, the heavy metal counts in the hair will actually go up and mineral counts will be in healthier ratios.

Hth,

Tammy

Sent from my Kindle Fire

[Guest guest]

I agree with . We had both tests run- labcorp and GPL two years ago. Right now we are running our second OAT through GPL. It's covered by BCBS insurance ( currently).Sent from my iPhone

Hi,

You asked:

> Also, is there any difference between an OAT test done by a lab that insurance covers such has Labcorp or Quest versus a lab done by great plains laboratories ?

>

Yes, there is a huge difference. I called Quest or Labcorp and spoke to their scientist who makes policy on how the test is run. Both labs and ARUP seem to have adopted a similar policy of rounding up or down to the nearest whole number. For many analytes, that means they report zero levels even if the level was something like 0.45 or they round up to one if is over 0.5. This makes their reference ranges pretty useless and you lose so much precision. They said their instruments actually produced about six significant digits so this made no sense as policy to me. They really think the only way people are using this test is to find inborn errors of metabolism that may elevate something a thousand fold or such, and for that, you don't need precision. They are not thinking that people use this test to look at variations in metabolism that happen day to day.

This rounding of data that is normally only present in very tiny amounts really leaves the wrong impression, and when I've seen test results on the same kids from GPL and from the other labs , the Labcorp or Quest test was basically worthless, but a lot could be figured out with the GPL test. Also, GPL has the oxalate markers, and Metametrix and Genova do not.

So, I would NOT order the test from labcorp or quest.

Just my opinion.

TODAY(Beta) •