Schedule Using the Schedule Tab on the Menu.
Anti-oxidant function testing (e.g., Spectrox™)
Category: Alternative medicine lab test
Description: Anti-oxidant function testing is a lab test for many of the naturally occurring antioxidants in the body including enzymes (superoxidedismutase,catalase,glutathioneperoxidase), essential nutrients (carotenoids, vitamin C, vitamin E, cysteine, selenium) or a wide variety of endogenous compounds (glutathione, sulfhydryl groups, thioredoxin, lipoic acid, coenzyme Q10, urate, bilirubin) or dietary compounds (mannitol, bioflavonoids, phenolic acid derivatives, proanthocyanidins). The existence of these tests are the end result of a belief system (rather than science) that 1. harmful reactive oxygen species (ROS) are produced during normal metabolism in the human. These include "free radicals". ROS are deemed universally undesirable even though it has been shown muscle mass does not increase during exercise without ROS. 2. "Oxidative stress" is due to an ineffective or inefficient defense mechanism of the body to ROS and not enough naturally produced anti-oxidants. Oxidative stress is hypothesized to cause coronary artery disease, neural dysfunction, diabetes, arthritis, and cancer. 3. There is a deficiency of anti-oxidants in the body leading to disease or dysfunction 4. that wide agreement on normal values have been established 5. the cure for a deficit is by prescribing supplements or other "natural" substances 6. there will be adequate absorption and distribution of the anti-oxidants once consumed. 7. The body needs additional anti-oxidants from supplements. In reality, most of these precepts have not been proven. Also note labs frequently detect the presence of a substance but not necessarily its activity in the body. Some believe based on almost no valid scientific human studies that replenishing these antioxidants can repair the body in chronic disease. Mainly chiropractors order these questionable tests that are not covered by Aetna and other insurances. There is a very wide array of methods of antioxidant testing, ranging from general free radical detection to very specific chemical level presence. The methods are not all interchangeable and explain the wide variety of results.
History: Since the 1970s and 80s, alternative medicine has hypothesized on the basis of rat studies and lab studies that free radicals are bad for people. An entire industry grew up on the basis of these theories including the supplement industry, which used the schtick "holistic" and "natural" to pedal untested chemicals (nothing at all natural about them) to the naive, the gullible, and to those who based their health on hope of the promised miracles. In order to make the free radical theory appear more scientific and accepted, laboratories created methods of measuring free radical activity. There are many ways to measure anti-oxidant properties of chemicals and minerals in the body including a) peroxides and hyroperoxide values, b)diene conjugation, c) thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, d) Kreis test, e. Ansidine value, f) hexanal formation, g. ABTS assay, h)total radical trapping antioxidant parameter, i) electron spin resonance spin trap test, and j) TG/DTA. Later, labs began specific antioxidant assays for selenium and other antioxidants. Selenium has been used to treat heart disease but with no improvement in mortality and has been used to treat cancer but was shown in Cochrane analysis to have no effect on cancer. Nonetheless, people believe the infomercial hype about selenium regardless of the facts. Some antioxidants have beneficial effects for some diseases while making other diseases worse. Therefore one should use caution in doing lab testing to guide dosing of chemical supplements.
LEVELS OF EVIDENCE OF THE ABILITY TO MEASURE BUT NOT THE ABILITY TO PREDICT OR INSURE TESTING UTILITY :
There is no medical evidence antioxidant testing has any positive benefit in the treatment of disease or prevention of disease.
RECOMMENDATION: Two thumbs down.