Laboratory Services

Laboratory fees include interpretation, consultation & recommendations.
Note: You must be an active client to request the following lab studies:

Comprehensive Parasitology Test: Parasites Bugging You? $260.00

Hair analysis: For Minerals and Toxic Element Status $100.00

Detoxification Profile: How much toxic waste is being stored in your body? $160.00

Bone Resorption Assessment:* for Osteoporosis Risk and Status $130.00

Antibody Assessment Food:* Do You Have Food and/or Environmental Allergies? $540.00

Oxidative Stress Analysis: Are You Getting Enough Antioxidants? $85.00

Digestive Stool Analysis: How is your digestion and intestinal flora? $340.00

Candida Intensive Culture: Candida overgrowth your problem? $140.00

Estrogen Metabolism Assessment: For women's health and wellbeing $250.00

Saliva Hormone Analysis:* Measures nine different hormones $270.0

Comprehensive Parasitology Test

Ongoing irritation from a parasitic infection can alter the lining of your intestine, creating the "leaky gut" syndrome, which permits toxic compounds to permeate into your body through the intestine. A variety of disorders, including food allergy and inflammatory bowel disease, can result from altered intestinal permeability.

Ask Yourself:
· Do I have diarrhea frequently?
· Do I have abdominal cramps and nausea?
· Do I have intestinal gas frequently?
· Do I suffer from bloating?
· Do I lose weight without trying?
· After meals, do I often have heartburn or belch frequently?
· Am I often constipated?
· Do I suffer from chronic fatigue?
· Have I noticed blood or mucus in my stool?
· Have I traveled outside the U.S. in the past year?

Health problems can result from disturbed digestive processes or toxins produced by the
parasite, such as:
· Pain in the joints and muscles
· Anemia
· Allergies
· Chronic Fatigue
· Immune Dysfunction
· Sleep Disturbances and
· Depression

As you can see, many symptoms of a parasitic infection are similar to other illnesses, making it particularly important to test for parasites for proper diagnosis and treatment. Eliminating the parasitic infection is the key to relieving the symptoms of infection, or the parasites will continue to grow and reproduce.

How Do You Treat Parasites?
A comprehensive parasite test, using a stool sample analyzed by a laboratory specializing in parasite testing, is the most effective way to diagnose this type of infection. Dr. Pouls will send you a collection kit for you to collect the sample and mail it to the diagnostic laboratory. The specimens are analyzed, and the results are sent back to Dr. Pouls, who will interpret them for you and make appropriate dietary and nutritional recommendations. Dr. Pouls recommends a variety of treatments to eliminate parasites, including anti-parasitic nutrients, dietary changes, by adding "friendly" bacteria to your gastrointestinal tract, and by recommending specific "targeted" herbal formulas.

Elemental Hair Analysis
What Are Elements?
Elements are atoms that are either essential to life or potentially toxic to the body. Essential elements are required for the body's structure and for metabolic functions, particularly enzyme reactions. Elements essential to life, such as calcium, magnesium, copper, chromium, selenium and zinc may become deficient and lead to various health conditions. Deficiencies or imbalances of these crucial nutrients can result from exposure to toxins and metals in our air, water, and food; from improper digestion and absorption, excessive stress, or from taking the incorrect nutritional supplements.

Toxic elements, such as the heavy metals lead, arsenic, mercury, cadmium and aluminum; and human-made chemicals that can accumulate in the body due to chronic exposure and contribute to many health conditions. These toxins and elements may inhibit enzyme reactions in your body, weaken cells, or impair nutrient delivery. Exposure is usually gradual, coming from many sources in the home including cleaning products, personal care products, canned and processed foods, tap water, and products made from or containing synthetic chemicals. Exposure to these toxic elements can contribute to headaches, joint pain, digestive disorders, ADD, autism, learning disabilities, Alzheimer's disease, fatigue, tissue aging, diabetes and hypertension- to name a few. A simple hair analysis can determine if element imbalances or toxicity may be causing your symptoms.

Ask Yourself, Do I:
· Regularly use antiperspirants or antacids?
· Have metal tooth fillings or regularly consume seafood?
· Live or work in an industrial setting?
· Commute to work or spend a lot of time in traffic?
· Have chronic symptoms that cannot be explained?
· Have gastrointestinal symptoms such as bloating, diarrhea or gas?
· Eat a poor diet or often forget to take your supplements?
· Suffer from allergies, high blood pressure, or periodontal (gum) problems?
· Suffer from unexplained mood changes?
· Have trouble with concentration, memory, or learning?
· Have problems with chronic infections?
· Experience a reduced sense of taste or smell?
· Do you have poor night vision, rough skin, or poor wound healing?
If you answered YES to two or more of these questions, you many have element imbalances or excess toxic elements in your body.

Why Use Hair?
Hair analysis is an inexpensive and non-invasive means of measuring elements, often revealing abnormalities not detected through other routine tests. Teeth, nails and hair concentrate minerals and toxic metals and thus are useful indicators of element status. The specimens are analyzed, and the results are sent back to Dr. Pouls, who will interpret the results and make appropriate recommendations. Element imbalances are usually corrected with a diet change and/or nutritional supplements, and through detoxification with oral chelation supplements.

Detoxification Profile

How much toxic waste is being stored in your body? Chronic health problems can develop from an impaired body detoxification system. The "Detoxification Profile" helps you to uncover the link between your symptoms and your liver function.

The liver is a key organ in your body's self-defense system. It changes, or detoxifies, many harmful substances into forms which your body can safely eliminate. In today's world of processed foods and pollution, you cannot avoid exposure to environmental toxins. They are in the food you eat, the water you drink and bathe in, and the air you breathe. A poorly functioning liver cannot detoxify substances as rapidly or as completely as a healthy liver. Slower detoxification results in toxic substances circulating and accumulating in your body. Many toxins end up being stored in fatty tissues, in the brain and central nervous system where they can do great harm and contribute to numerous chronic illnesses.

Ask Yourself, Do I:
· Use tobacco products of any kind?
· Live or work with someone who smokes around me?
· Often exposed to automobile exhaust?
· Live or work in a new building or home with new carpets, paint, or chemical fumes?
· Ever use toxic chemical sprays such as insect spray or herbicides?
· Use commercial cleaning products in my home or office?
· Have one or more alcoholic drinks per week?
· Take prescription drugs two or more times in the past year?
· Eat grilled meat over a charcoal fire?
· Suffer from gastrointestinal (stomach & intestines) problems?
· Have allergies, sinus problems or joint pain?
· Frequently tired from a normal day's activity?
If you answered "YES" to two or more of these questions, you may be reacting to increased toxic exposure and burdening your body's detoxification ability.

How is Liver Function Measured?
An accurate assessment of liver function can be made using the "Detoxification Profile". This test uses common substances to challenge your liver's detoxification ability using urine and saliva samples. You simply swallow the tablets, collect urine and saliva specimens, and return the test kit to the lab in the mailer provided. The specimens are analyzed, and the results are sent back to Dr. Pouls, who will interpret the results and make appropriate dietary and nutritional recommendations. In addition to detoxification testing, Dr. Pouls may want to test your body's level of oxidative stress. Impaired liver function can lead to higher levels of free radicals, or oxidative substances in the body that are linked to chronic illness and degeneration.

Bone Resorption Assessment for Osteoporosis Risk and Status

Nearly 50% of American women in their 30's and 40's are at risk for osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a "brittle bone" disease, occurring when excessive bone loss leads to gradual bone weakening. It is a silent disease which can go undetected for years- until the damage is severe enough to cause a fracture. Unfortunately, a broken hip or wrist often is the first symptom of osteoporosis.

Do You Have a High Risk for Osteoporosis? Ask Yourself:
Genetic Factors.
· Are you female?
· Are you over 50 year old?
· Are you thin or small boned?
· Do you have fair skin or blonde hair?
· Do you have a near relative (mother or sister) with osteoporosis?
Lifestyle Factors:
· Do you smoke now or have you in the past?
· Do you have a history of alcohol consumption?
· Do you eat fish, poultry or beef at most meals?
· Do you drink coffee, tea, or carbonated beverages daily?
· Are you physically inactive?
Medical Factors:
· Do you have a history of hip, spine, or wrist fractures?
· Do you have a history of early menopause?
· Have you missed menses longer than 4 months?
· Do you take thyroid medication?
· Do you often have heartburn or indigestion?
· Are you on estrogen replacement therapy?
If you answered "Yes" to two or more of these questions, ask Dr. Pouls about the The "Bone Resorption Assessment"

The "Bone Resorption Assessment" can measure bone loss before it becomes a problem. Using early warning indicators, this test:
· Reveals your current rate of bone loss.
· Determines if you are at high risk for future bone loss and fractures.
· Monitors effectiveness of preventative treatments.
The "Bone Resorption Assessment" is safe, simple, and non-invasive. Dr. Pouls will send you a test kit, and you will mail a urine sample to the diagnostic laboratory. Dr. Pouls will work personally with you to develop a plan to slow bone loss and rebuild bone. With Early testing and treatment, osteoporosis can be beaten!

Comprehensive Antibody Assessment
For Food and Environmental Allergies

An allergic reaction occurs when the immune system "over-reacts" to a substance by identifying it as an invading organism, provoking a chain of defensive physical reactions in the body. Common symptoms of allergy include asthma, sneezing, red and itchy eyes, runny nose, sneezing, and skin rashes. Uncommon symptoms of allergy include recurrent infections, body pains, fatigue, anxiety, and depression.

In modern times, food and environmental allergies have increased dramatically. Substances that provoke an allergic reaction can be ingested, inhaled or even touched. Common food allergens include milk, corn, eggs, nuts, fish, sugar, and certain fruits or vegetables. Allergens can be substances in your surrounding environments, such as house dust, animal dander, human-made chemicals, bacteria and viruses, which induce allergic reactions after being inhaled or touched.

Ask Yourself:
· Do I occasionally suffer from digestive problems, gas, bloating, diarrhea or constipation?
· Do my eyes sometimes feel itchy or watery?
· Do I experience fatigue, hyperactivity, or difficulty concentrating?
· Am I prone to mood swings, food cravings, or anxiety?
· Do I often feel depressed?
· Do my muscles and joints sometimes ache?
· Have I suffered recurrent ear infections or other chronic infections?
· Have I ever noticed the appearance of hives or rashes?
· Do I get migraines or headaches?
· Do I suffer from recurrent asthma, bronchitis, or sinus problems?
· Do I sometimes experience a set of "mystery" symptoms that come and go?
If you answered "Yes" to any of these questions, you may be experiencing symptoms caused by an immune response to food or environmental allergens.

People who choose to treat their allergy symptoms using antihistamines and other drugs may not realize that chronic use of those drugs can dampen the immune system, placing them at increased risk of developing infections and malignant tumors. These drugs often come with a host of side effects, including drowsiness, hypertension, weight gain, and even diabetes. That's why it is so important to be tested, so that Dr. Pouls can properly assess and address the underlying causes of your allergic reactions and associated health conditions rather than treat symptoms.

The "Comprehensive Antibody Assessment" panel evaluates your body's immune response to over 130 different food and environmental substances that trigger immediate allergic reactions. It's a safe, convenient, and economical method that allows you to get at the root cause of your symptoms. The results are sent back to Dr. Pouls, who will interpret them for you and make appropriate dietary and nutritional recommendations.

Oxidative Stress Analysis
Are You Getting Enough Antioxidants?

"Free Radicals" are unstable substances in your body that cause damage (by a process called oxidative stress) to your cells, tissues and organs. Antioxidant nutrients have the ability to target and neutralize free radicals in your body. You may already be familiar with some of the powerful antioxidants such as vitamins C and E, beta carotene, and pycnogenol, which are contained in many foods and nutritional supplements.

Where Do Free Radicals Come From?
Your body produces some free radicals during the normal processes of breathing and digestion. Environmental sources include exposure to air pollution, auto exhaust, many human-made chemicals, herbicides and pesticides, prescription and over-the-counter medications, and by the consumption of alcohol and tobacco. Your body's normal cellular repair functions should be able to handle the oxidative damage created by free radicals. However, if you have an elevated level of free radicals and/or a deficiency of antioxidants available to neutralize them, permanent cell damage will result. Free radicals damage cells in a manner like the "domino effect", a chain-reaction that damages cell after cell until an antioxidant stops the process. If unchecked, the damage spreads like a forest fire, damaging organ tissues or artery walls. More than 100 disorders of the eyes, brain, muscles, lungs, kidneys, liver, digestive system, cardiovascular system and immune systems have been associated with oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is now believed to be a contributing cause to nearly all degenerative disease.

Ask Yourself:
· Do I have allergies?
· Do I often get cold of have sinus problems?
· Am I under a lot of stress at work or at home?
· Do my muscles or joints ache after even mild exertion?
· Have I been diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome?
· Does my diet contain a lot of fast food and processed foods?
· Am I often exposed to automobile exhaust fumes?
· Do I smoke or use any tobacco products?
· Do I live or work around someone who smokes in my presence?
· Have I ever been diagnosed with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity?
· Do I take a multivitamin or antioxidant nutrient less than once a day?
If you answered "Yes" to any of these questions, you may be experiencing oxidative stress, making you vulnerable to degenerative health conditions. You can now measure the strength of your body's defenses against free radical damage with the "Oxidative Stress Analysis".

The Oxidative Stress Analysis measures several markers to determine the degree of free radical activity present and the availability of certain antioxidants to combat your body's oxidative stress.
Once you have discovered your specific oxidative stress levels, Dr. Pouls will develop a dietary and nutritional plan tailored to your specific needs. This assessment will ensure that you have just the right selection and amount of antioxidants to balance and combat your oxidative stress.

Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis
What Can Digestion Tell About Your Health?

The Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis (CDSA) is a group of 25 tests that reveal valuable information about your gastrointestinal health. The CDSA evaluates:
· Digestion of food molecules and absorption of nutrients.
· The presence of hidden yeast or bacterial infections.
· Intestinal flora balance.
· Intestinal immune function.
· Dietary fiber intake.
Poor digestion or imbalances in your intestinal flora can result in many illnesses, from annoying gastrointestinal complaints such as chronic constipation and abdominal pain to more serious illnesses which may appear to be unrelated to digestion, such as asthma or migraine headaches.
The CDSA evaluates your gastrointestinal health- how well you digest foods, absorb nutrients, fight intestinal intruders and eliminate waste.

How can you assess your digestive health? Ask Yourself:
· Am I 50 years of age or older?
· Do I often feel bloated or full in the stomach, especially after eating?
· Do I often have intestinal gas?
· Do I have a spastic colon, irritable bowel syndrome, nervous stomach?
· Do I have loose stools or constipation?
· Am I allergic to any foods?
· Have I had any of the following: asthma, allergies, high blood pressure, heart disease, history of strokes, arthritis, anemia, autoimmune diseases, or yeast infections?
· Have I ever noticed dark, tar-like stools, bloodstained stools, bright-red rectal bleeding or signs of intestinal bleeding?
· Have I ever taken oral contraceptives or steroids (cortisone, prednisone, etc.)
· Do you prefer a nutritional approach whenever possible to restore health and enhance your well being?
If you answered "Yes" to two or more of these questions, taking a Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis is recommended.

For proper gastrointestinal health, your body must carefully coordinate the breakdown, absorption and elimination of food. Bacteria and enzymes must be in proper balance, and immune function must be adequate. The CDSA provides an easy, effective evaluation of how well your gastrointestinal tract performs these functions. Dr. Pouls will send you a collection kit for you to collect the sample and mail it to the diagnostic laboratory. The specimens are analyzed, and the results are sent back to Dr. Pouls, who will interpret the results and make appropriate dietary and nutritional recommendations to assist you in reaching optimum digestive competence.

Candida Intensive Culture

The Candida Intensive Culture uses fecal and blood analysis to provide a comprehensive assessment of local and systemic Candida overgrowth associated with numerous related health conditions and symptoms of dis-ease.

Many factors associated with modern life promote the overgrowth of Candida yeast within the gastrointestinal tract. Increased use of antibiotics and oral contraceptives, high sugar and starch diets, stress, and chlorinated water are all important triggers that encourage Candida yeast to proliferate. Toxic by-products released by these yeast can set off a multitude of both subtle or overt symptoms.

Ask Yourself:
· Do I often get headaches?
· Do I feel fatigued at inappropriate times or have chronic low energy?
· Do I sometimes lose the ability to concentrate?
· Do I have low sex drive?
· Do I have chronic skin conditions or dermatitis?
· Do I have PMS? (females)
· Do I often have inappropriate mood swings?
· Do I tend to have an over-reactive immune system?
· Do I have irritable bowel syndrome?
· Am I depressed?
· Do I have inappropriate anxiety?
· Do I have joint pain?

If you answered "Yes" to two or more of these questions, you may want to consider taking a Candida Intensive Culture.

The "Candida Intensive Culture" analysis is safe, simple, and non-invasive. Dr. Pouls will send you a collection kit for you to collect the sample and mail it to the diagnostic laboratory. The specimens are analyzed, and the results are sent back to Dr. Pouls, who will interpret them for you and make appropriate dietary and nutritional recommendations.

Estrogen Metabolism Assessment

The Estrogen Metabolism Assessment (urine test) evaluates how estrogen is being processed by the body. The test yields clinical insight into many estrogen-dependent conditions and provides and important tool for monitoring dietary, lifestyle, and hormone therapies.

The potential impact of estrogen on a woman's health and wellbeing is enormous. Acting is seemingly paradoxical fashion, estrogen can exert a strong influence in such diverse conditions as:
· Breast Cancer
· Osteoporosis
· Heart Disease
· Autoimmune Disorders

Estrogen is metabolized in two ways:

1. Along one pathway, it is converted into a powerful metabolite called 16alpha-OHE1, which acts to stimulate target tissues. Levels of 16alpha-OHE1 can rise in response to obesity, alcohol consumption, and exposure to various toxic substances. High levels of this potent metabolite are linked with increased risk and poorer prognosis in conditions associated with estrogen excess, including breast cancer and lupus.

2. In the other pathway, the body can break down estrogen into a much weaker metabolite, called
2-OHE1, which may slow cell proliferation. However, excessive levels of 2-OHE1, may increae the risk of developing conditions associated with estrogen deficiency, such as heart disease, depression, and osteoporosis.

A proper balance between 16alpha-OHE1 and 2-OHE1 is the key to optimal health for women. Measuring these primary estrogen metabolites allows Dr. Pouls to develop a individualized nutritional, and (if appropriate) a natural hormone replacement protocol based on your unique health risk factors. It is recommended that a baseline and follow-up analysis be performed.

The "Estrogen Metabolism Assessment" is safe, simple, and non-invasive. Dr. Pouls will send you a collection kit for you to collect the sample and mail it to the diagnostic laboratory. The specimens are analyzed, and the results are sent back to Dr. Pouls, who will interpret them for you and make appropriate dietary and nutritional recommendations.

Saliva Hormone Testing
Estradiol, Estriol, Estrone (the estrogens), Progesterone, Testosterone, DHEA, DHT, Cortisol, and Melatonin each play a critical role in your body. As you get older and your hormone levels shift, the delicate balance required to keep you at the peak of health is upset. Now there is a solution. A simple, cost effective saliva test will give you an accurate profile of your hormone levels allowing you, if necessary, to make adjustments with natural hormone and/or nutritional supplementation.
Advantages of Saliva Testing
· Saliva reflects the biologically active (free) fraction of steroids in the bloodstream (unlike blood or urine which measures total levels)
· Collection time is more controlled which is critical for baseline testing of hormones with diurnal variation and assessment of Hormone Replacement Therapy protocols.
· Non-invasive, simple, safe, stress free, and painless.
· Private and convenient for patient and health care practitioner.
· Allows for multiple collections outside of hospital setting.
· Hormones stable in saliva at room temperature for at least 3 weeks.
· Transport of saliva to laboratory by regular US mail.
· Less expensive than blood testing.

Methods and procedures have been established to measure circulating levels of the following hormones: Estradiol, Estriol,Testosterone, DHEA, Melatonin, Estrone, Progesterone, DHT, and Cortisol.

The "Saliva Hormone Test" is safe, simple, and non-invasive. Dr. Pouls will send you a collection kit for you to collect the sample and mail it to the diagnostic laboratory. The specimens are analyzed, and the results are sent back to Dr. Pouls, who will interpret them for you and make appropriate dietary and nutritional recommendations.

Would you like to address your health condition(s) in a personal, long-distance consultation with an experienced clinical nutritionist ?

For over 16 years Maile Pouls, Ph.D. has provided the following services to thousands of Americans: Analysis of nutritional deficiencies and body chemistry imbalances, determination of environmental and nutritional stress factors and resulting organ and glandular dysfunction. Her specialty is determining the relationship between underlying deficiencies and body chemistry imbalances and recommendation of specific, individual nutritional programs to support the body's natural healing abilities.

Services include chemistry balancing, digestive enzyme therapy, diet and nutritional planning; cellular, liver and colon detoxification, digestive problems, stress and anxiety-related conditions, allergies, chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, candida therapies, athletic nutrition, weight and obesity management, balancing hormones, various laboratory studies, and alternative solutions to household and environmental toxins.

Professionals who refer patients to Dr. Pouls include medical doctors, chiropractors, acupuncturists, pediatricians, dentists, naturopathic physicians, neurologists, urologists, and oncologists, physical therapists, massage therapists, and numerous other professionals of the healing arts. "My practice has been built on referrals and success stories, not by advertising.

Through the variety of body analysis described above, Dr. Pouls is able to determine which of the major body imbalances are contributing to the person's health conditions and special needs. Each person is then placed on an individual protocol of therapeutic supplements and diet to correct these deficiencies, imbalances and toxicities that may contribute to: intestinal health conditions.

Please call the "Health Enhancement Center" toll-free at 866-333-7399and leave your name, phone number, and a good time for a return call from Dr. Maile Pouls or her nurse associate. Please have available a list of your most significant health concerns and any brief questions you may have. Please speak clearly and slowly.

For more Information about becoming a private nutritional client click here.

Phone: Toll Free 1-866-333-7399
Fax: 530-273-6888
email: drpouls@yournutrition.com

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Note: The information and products contained herein are not to be misconstrued as diagnosing, or prescribing remedies for the treatment of disease.

All health products should be used under the supervision of your individual doctor or health care provider.

* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These statements and/or products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. (This statement is required by law)