More laboratories are offering fatty acid analyses as their importance in human health is becoming better understood. The red blood cell fatty acid analysis is done from a blood sample and the results reflect the status of many different EFAs in your body. As some fatty acids are ‘essential’, they must be obtained from the diet. Some of the health conditions in which fatty acid analysis can be of benefit include ADD, Autism, CFS, cardiovascular disease, cancer, arthritis and other inflammatory conditions, skin conditions, depression, schizophrenia, tardive dyskinesia, pyroluria, immune and neurological disorders.
Fatty acid analysis can also be performed on pregnant and nursing women, as fatty acid imbalances may impair nervous system and retinal development of the fetus and infant, possibly predisposing to impaired visual and cognitive function including ADD and even degenerative neurologic disorders in adulthood. Please see our links page under Laboratories, as most of these offer this service.
Test Essential Fatty Acid Profile can help with the following
Key
| May do some good |
| Likely to help |
Glossary
Fatty Acids
Chemical chains of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen atoms that are part of a fat (lipid) and are the major component of triglycerides. Depending on the number and arrangement of these atoms, fatty acids are classified as either saturated, polyunsaturated, or monounsaturated. They are nutritional substances found in nature which include cholesterol, prostaglandins, and stearic, palmitic, linoleic, linolenic, eicosapentanoic (EPA), and decohexanoic acids. Important nutritional lipids include lecithin, choline, gamma-linoleic acid, and inositol.
Red Blood Cell
Any of the hemoglobin-containing cells that carry oxygen to the tissues and are responsible for the red color of blood.
Essential Fatty Acid
(EFA): A substance that the human body cannot manufacture and therefore must be supplied in the diet.
Cardiovascular
Pertaining to the heart and blood vessels.
Cancer
Refers to the various types of malignant neoplasms that contain cells growing out of control and invading adjacent tissues, which may metastasize to distant tissues.
Arthritis
Inflammation of a joint, usually accompanied by pain, swelling, and stiffness, and resulting from infection, trauma, degenerative changes, metabolic disturbances, or other causes. It occurs in various forms, such as bacterial arthritis, osteoarthritis, or rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoarthritis, the most common form, is characterized by a gradual loss of cartilage and often an overgrowth of bone at the joints.
Schizophrenia
Any of a group of psychotic disorders usually characterized by withdrawal from reality, illogical patterns of thinking, delusions, and hallucinations, and accompanied in varying degrees by other emotional, behavioral, or intellectual disturbances. Schizophrenia is associated with dopamine imbalances in the brain and defects of the frontal lobe and is caused by genetic, other biological, and psychosocial factors.
Dyskinesia
A condition characterized by spasmodic, uncoordinated, or other abnormal movements; i.e., those which result from a reaction to phenothiazines.
Pyroluria
This condition is caused by an overproduction during hemoglobin synthesis of kryptopyrrole, which chemically combines with vitamin B6 and zinc, resulting in their excretion and a severe deficiency of both of these essential nutrients. Most pyroluric individuals never develop schizophrenia symptoms.
Nervous System
A system in the body that is comprised of the brain, spinal cord, nerves, ganglia and parts of the receptor organs that receive and interpret stimuli and transmit impulses to effector organs.
Retina
A 10-layered, frail nervous tissue membrane of the eye, parallel with the optic nerve. It receives images of outer objects and carries sight signals through the optic nerve to the brain.