Hair Heavy Metal Analysis
Why Get Hair Element Analysis?
Hair element analysis is an easy and inexpensive way to assess the levels of essential and toxic elements in your body. Less than one gram of hair is needed to test for 45 essential and toxic elements through our testing lab partner, Rocky Mountain Analytical, who provides a custom interpretation that explains the patterns of element levels in hair.
Good health depends in part on having adequate amounts of essential nutritional elements and low levels of toxic elements. Hair element analysis shows nutrient status (essential elements) and toxic element exposure for the length of time it took to grow the hair supplied for testing (usually about three months).
Essential Elements
Essential elements are essential because they are needed to maintain health. For example, potassium and sodium are essential for proper heart function, while calcium and magnesium are essential for bone development,
Toxic Elements
Toxic elements usually cause damage by taking the place of essential elements and interfering with their usual function. For example, calcium helps strengthen bone, but lead can take the place of calcium in bone, making bone more porous and less sturdy.
Conditions Related to Essential Element Imbalance
Simple deficiencies or excesses of essential nutritional elements may also occur. For example, low levels of zinc and/or magnesium are strongly associated with increased risk of diabetes. If all or most of the nutritional elements appear on the low end of normal, it may indicate that you have issues with absorption or digestion of food.
Conditions Related to Toxic Element Exposure
Toxic elements are found nearly everywhere: from antimony as a fire retardant in clothing to uranium salts in certain pottery glazes. Toxic elements may create an imbalance in essential elements or directly trigger a number of health problems including:
Anxiety/Depression: Both lead and mercury toxicity can contribute to symptoms of depression. Arsenic and mercury have been associated with symptoms of anxiety.
Memory Impairment: Lead toxicity can impair long term memory and cause confusion. Cadmium may also cause confusion.
Heart Disease: Antimony toxicity may damage the heart. Cadmium toxicity increases blood pressure and may also damage heart muscle. Lead has been shown to increase blood pressure.
Neurological Problems: Arsenic toxicity causes numbness and tingling in the feet and hands. Extremely high levels of bismuth may also cause neurological problems like muscle twitches, tremors or convulsions.
Fatigue: Mild toxicity with any of the toxic elements can contribute to symptoms of fatigue.
Restoring Balance
Restoring the right balance of elements often involves using supplements that chelate, or bind up, toxic elements so that they can be safely eliminated. It is also important to try and minimize exposure to toxic elements. Once the body is clear of toxic elements, your healthcare professional may want to repeat your hair element analysis to see if your nutritional elements are back in balance, or if you need further supplementation.