URINE ORGANIC ACIDS
Organic acids are chemicals formed in body tissues or by intestinal bacteria as metabolic intermediates. Excessive accumulation of organic acids in the urine indicates metabolic derangement, nutritional deficiency or intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Using the information from measurement of 47 different organic acids in the urine, an analysis of areas of biochemical abnormalities can be done. Specific acids will be elevated if the vitamin or chemical needed to breakdown the acid into the next chemical in sequence is low. Supplementation of the low vitamin or chemical needed will improve the ability of the cell to function normally.
A variety of causes lead to the abnormal function of cells. Heavy metals, industrial chemicals, pesticides, synthetic hormones, herbicides, prescription medications, bacterial or fungal overgrowth of the bowel, food preservatives, soaps and cosmetics and many other toxins can block specific metabolic pathways. Genetic polymorphisms are changes in the enzymes involved in metabolism. Some people have genetic codes for an enzyme that is inefficient and that causes the pathway to be slow. If a toxin that also blocks the same pathway is present in the body, the combination of these two factors can lead to serious symptoms or disease. It is easy to see that two different people with the same symptom or disease diagnosis may have different underlying causes of the problem. Functional medicine is the art and science of identifying the underlying causes of an illness and correcting them.
Urinary organic acid analysis can examine fatty acid synthesis, carbohydrate metabolism, energy production, methylation co-factors, neurotransmitter metabolism, oxidative damage, detoxification status, inflammation and intestinal dysbiosis. The test can show if risk of heart disease is high and which nutrients are needed to lower risk. Abnormally low energy production can lead to obesity and inability to lose weight. Correction of the deficiencies in the diet can lead to more rapid burning of food and increased ability to lose weight. Chronic fatigue may be partly due to inefficient energy production in the citric acid cycle. Aggressive B vitamin supplementation can be helpful to reverse this. Intestinal disorders such as irritable bowel may be caused by overgrowth of abnormal bacteria and fungus. These can be identified by their biochemical byproducts in the urine.
Functional medicine is the medicine of the future. It can identify the underlying biochemical malfunction causing disease and symptoms and can give the specific remedies that will correct the problem.
Daniel Blodgett MD