You are a good candidate for a parasite stool test if you have been struggling with digestive issues, skin issues, fatigue, gas, bloating, diarrhea / constipation, cravings, food sensitivities, IBS / IBD, inflammation, autoimmunity or have a general feeling of being unwell. Parasitic infections have also been associated to Leaky Gut Syndrome.
Parasites testing often gets underlooked and most doctors consider your symptoms to be IBS or other digestive conditions. Most of the time, having any kind of dysbiosis may predispose you to parasites. Dysbiosis is an imbalance of good bacteria vs. bad bacteria. Different lifestyle factors, diet, stressors, alcohol, medications and sleep can shift your gut microbe to be in dysbiosis and out of balance. When this happens, you are more prone to hosting parasites.
Most people believe that parasites are rare if you don’t travel to tropical countries, however, most Canadians travel to the Caribbean which is considered high risk. Traveling isn’t the only risk that predisposes you to parasitic infections, here are the common causes:
Depending on the parasite, some are considered ‘normal’ and can cause severe symptoms in one person and no symptoms in another. Therefore it’s important to measure what kind of bacteria, protozoa, amoeba and worms are inhabiting your gut – just because someone else may have the exact kind and not experience any symptoms, doesn’t mean that it wont cause you any symptoms. This is an individualized case by case basis. Therefore, signs and symptoms vary from one individual to another – here are some of the common ones:
Constipation, diarrhea, gas, bloating, agitation, anxiety, difficulty sleeping, low energy / fatigue, anemia, allergies and malnutrition.
Comprehensive Stool Analysis can be added to this parasitology testing, which will help better understand your gut health by assessing inflammatory markers, absorption, digestion and microbiome! Click here to read more about Comprehensive Stool Analysis.
This Comprehensive Parasitology Stool Analysis kit provides you with everything you need in order to make it an easy to do at home test. The testing involves a collection of 3 stools and once it’s done, you will ship it directly to the laboratory in the provided expedited envelope. Dr. Tali will notify you once she has received the test results, which usually take two weeks. By then you will go together over the Parasitology Stool Analysis test results and the appropriate treatment plan.
It’s important to note that before a comprehensive parasite testing will be prescribed, you will have an in-depth intake in order to determine if parasite testing is appropriate for you. The test comes back with sensitivity testing to the different parasites that are positive in your stool. This will help with an individualized based treatment approach tailored to your body and needs. Therefore, you need a curious licensed health care professional such as a Naturopathic Doctor in order to dig deeper to the root cause of your parasite. Dr. Tali focuses on identifying the challenges that may have you predisposed to parasites as well as strengthening and healing your gut lining after the parasite treatment. It’s crucial to restore healthy gut function in order to reduce inflammation, improve absorption and prevent future opportunistic bacteria / parasites from inhabiting your gut!
Have any further questions about Comprehensive Stool analysis and Parasitology Stool Testing?
Feel free to contact Dr. Tali Troyansky ND, Toronto Naturopathic Doctor, to discuss whether you should be tested.