FACTS AND INFORMATION

Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) Why Use Hair? Benefits of HTMA Why test for Minerals? Mineral Imbalances and Health What can cause a Mineral Imbalance?

Why Use Hair?

Although blood and serum give an insight into the transport of certain elements around the body, they are not accurate indicators of the actual storage of elements within the cells. Monitoring trace elements in urine can only measure components which are being excreted, not absorbed. Serum concentrations may fluctuate with the manner in which the sample is taken, emotional changes, the time of day the blood is drawn, or foods eaten prior to taking the sample. For example; Eating bananas before a blood test will cause a rise in blood potassium, but blood re-tested the following day may show blood potassium to be normal or even low. Similarly, calcium levels assessed by a blood test do not truly reflect mineral status in the body and calcium loss from the bones can be quite advanced before significant changes in blood calcium levels are detected. Iron deficiency symptoms can be present in hair long before low levels are seen in serum. Thirty to forty days following an acute exposure, elevated serum levels of lead may be undetectable. This is due to the body's removing the lead from serum as a protective measure and depositing them into tissues such as the liver, bones, teeth and hair.