Re: Clarification On Blood Testing

 I would like to know what you recommend someone does in order to determine if they have a certain disease or condition? I was reading some of you past posts and you mentionend that allot of Doctor recommended tests were not accurate, is this true?

Yes, many lab tests are very inaccurate, or do not show what is going on with a continuous basis. For example antibody tests are very inaccurate particularly from serological cross reactivity.  And hormone tests only tell you where the hormones are at that minute.

Do you recommend blood test or one go by symptoms?

Actually both.  You have to look at the whole picture.  In cases where the lab tests are inaccurate you either have to go solely on symptoms or address all the possibilities.  With some lab and other tests the test needs to be repeated several times to make sure there is a problem.  For example doctors should NEVER put someone on high blood pressure medications based on one high reading, although they do it all the time.  And if someone has elevated liver enzymes they need to be rechecked after 6 months and other possible causes ruled out before deciding they have viral hepatitis.  Even with that the tests can only determine hepatitis, but not if it is viral in origin.

An easier way to explain this is imagine you are given a bunch of puzzle pieces, but no picture to go by.  Can you determine what the picture is by looking at one piece?  Of course not.   But given a sufficient number of pieces you will be able to figure it out.  Lab tests are only one piece of the puzzle and will not supply all the answers.  Unfortunately too many doctors will make a diagnosis and alternative healers an opinion based on this one piece of the puzzle, which is a lot of the problem. Examples are a doctor who prescribes an antibiotic for a sinus infection based on sinus pain and colored discharge.  What if the infection is fungal?  Antibiotics will not only fail to work, but the antibiotics will also make the infection worse by killing off the acid forming flora.  And I have seen alternative healers suggest a disease or disorder time and time again based one symptom that can fit the condition as well as numerous other things.  You have mental fogginess, must be amalgam poisoning from your fillings.  Couldn't be hypothyroidism, circulation problems, medications, or any of a number of other possible issues.  In both cases if more pieces of the puzzle were looked at then a proper determination of the problems are more likely.

I understand that blood test can result in false positives, but am a bit confused as you mention that one should not self diagnose.

Not no self diagnosing, but to be careful about self diagnosing for the same reasons mentioned above.  Again I have seen so many people diagnose themselves because they read a symptom somewhere and figured that this must be the answer.  This kind of diagnosing is like reading horoscopes in the paper.  You are going to find things that you feel fit and will focus on that while ignoring anything that does not fit.  People do this in large part because they want answers.  It is very frustrating not knowing, so it is better in their mind to have a wrong answer than no answer at all.  If you don't believe me just read some of the responses I have received from people on other boards that thought they knew exactly what they have and don't want to hear any different.  They can get downright nasty if you tell them that it is impossible that they have whatever based on _______.   In fact the moderator on the acid/alkaline board wrote to me and asked to not post on that board to keep the peace or to take it to the debate forums.  I found this interesting since I only posted the facts to answer a question.  Another poster started debating these facts and I doubt if he was asked to stop posting even though debating is a violation.  People don't want to hear the facts if it violates their belief system.  Beliefs, even if they are wrong are a security blanket for some people.

So, if I'm correct we should goto our regular Doctor depending on our problem, and then decide independently whether we want to take the allopathic or alternative treatment, right?

Unless you are sure of what you are dealing with you may need to go to a doctor for certain tests. After that you have every right to use their medicine or real healing methods to deal with the issue. And there may be times where you have no choice.  If you have a stone lodged in the bile ducts or a ruptured aneurysm then you have one choice, and that is a good surgeon.  But for most conditions you are going to often be better off with supplements or alternatives.  Keep in mind though that even these require proper use and knowing what you are dealing with.  If you have a pain in the chest what is causing it?  Pneumonia?  Pleurisy?  Gallbladder?  Aneurysm?  Reflux?  Angina?  Heart attack?  Endocarditis?  Cracked or displaced rib?  Pulled muscle?.......................   You better know since they are all going to have to be addressed differently.  And what is the best way to determine what the cause is?  Right, by looking at as many of the puzzle pieces as possible.  And that sometimes means trying a piece to see if it fits or makes sense.  If it does not then at least you have narrowed it down.

There is allot of conflicting information here on this site. I was reading one thread on the Barefoot forum, someone had asked a question regarding PH balancing and that there friend was eating junk and there ph stript that was tested showed an alkaline side (name of thread is "Don't Understand").

This is why I don't care for urine pH testing.  It does not reflect blood pH at all.  You can take baking soda and alkalinize the urine quickly.  The reason I bring that up is that it shows how easy it is to alter the urinary pH.  As you are altering the urinary pH though you are not really affecting the blood pH since the body will quickly adjust the blood pH back to normal.  So the urinary pH, which is not adjusted by the body will not reflect the blood pH.  Salivary pH is no different.  Saliva among other things rapidly changes the pH in the mouth with no change in the normal pH of the blood.  Even not brushing your teeth or thinking of a particular food can change the pH of the saliva.  The ONLY way you are going to know the pH of the blood is by taking a blood sample and checking the pH. And except in some very rare cases you are going to find that it is almost always normal.  It is very rare for the blood to go overly acidic or alkaline, and the lymphatic system does not go acidic. 

Barefoot was saying that by doing a fast all the acids in the body will start to flow outward. He is another proponent of the acid causing disease as well.

On a fast one of the things that can happen is that the body will start to break down fats putting the body in to a state of acidosis.  Once the fat is gone then the body will start to break down its muscle, which leads to uric acid production.  The fact is that we need acids for energy production, oxygen release from hemoglobin, digestion, detoxification, protection from pathogens, maintaining tissue integrity, building tissues and for free radical protection just to name a few.  In short we would not have ever come in to existence without the many acids we need to exist and function.

He feels that we should eat natural fruits only..

Hmm.... fruits that are full of sugar and that are considered by some to be acid forming.  Not to mention all the naturally occurring acids in fruits such as malic acid, citric acid, salicylic acid, boric acid, tartaric acid, oxalic acid, tannic acid and chlorogenic acid to name a few.

I just find the information here and there so conflicting, please make my understand..Thanks...

That is why I started this site, to clear up some of the misconceptions out there.