Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis
From DoctorMyhill
| Test Details for Ordering | |
|---|---|
| Test | Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis |
| Laboratory | Genova Diagnostics |
| Price | £155.00 |
| Sample required | stool |
| To order this test, please, go to Ordering Tests. Please, make sure you have read When not to use this website to ascertain whether having this test is an appropriate and safe course of action for you. | |
DESCRIPTION
The test gives an idea of how well foods are digested and absorbed, gives some products of gut fermentation, looks for blood in the stool, gives counts of bacteria and yeast, identifies those bacteria which should not be there and gives a list of antibiotic and anti-fungal preparations, both herbal and drug, to which that micro-organism is sensitive.
The stool analysis is carried out at Genova Diagnostics in the US.
Please, note this test does not include looking for gut parasites. For that, see Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis with parasitology or Parasitology.
A second test, CDSA 2.0 was then designed with markers that supersede the above test which is not quite the same. It misses faecal fat (measure of poor fat digestion), chymotrypsin (protein digestion) and acetates (measure of friendly fermentation)- if you want these tests too they have to be paid for as extras. But CDSA 2.0 puts in useful additional tests vis:
- Calprotectin and EPX - these are very sensitive markers of inflammation. If these are normal then one can exclude inflammatory bowel disease as a diagnosis. Early indications suggest this is going to be an equally reliable test for bowel cancers and be an excellent screening test. Watch this space!
- Pancreatic elastase - this is a good marker of pancreatic exocrine, ie digestive function.
- Bile salts - this is a very useful test where there is gall bladder disease, poor digestion of fats, or to investigate upper gut fermentation. A major cause of the latter is overgrowth of prevotella - see Fermentation in the gut and CFS and prevotella is killed by bile salts.
SAMPLE
This test is performed on three stool samples.
KIT
The kit for this test includes: five collection tubes, three collection cups, detailed instructions, plastic bags for sealing the samples, a request form and a pre-paid envelope for sending the samples to the laboratory in Surrey.
INSTRUCTIONS
- Follow the instructions for collecting the samples enclosed with the test kit.
- Make sure that your name, date of birth and date sample taken are correctly entered on the sample tube
- Make sure all the necessary details are correct on the laboratory request form.
- Post the samples in the packaging provided making sure that the laboratory request form is enclosed with the samples.
- Please note that there is an additional interpretation fee for my letter to your GP. See Ordering Tests for more details.
