Many individuals seek a Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis Test to assess the presence of heavy metals. This interest arises from the fact that human hair contains a comprehensive array of minerals found in the body, including both essential nutrients and potentially harmful heavy metals. Hair analysis is a specialized laboratory examination designed to quantify the mineral composition within the hair. Typically, the outcomes of this examination reflect the levels of these elements in your tissues, offering valuable insights into your internal environment and biochemical processes. This information can unlock a wealth of insights into metabolic functions. It not only provides a glimpse into your nutritional status but also sheds light on the efficiency of your body's operations.

The process involves obtaining a sample of hair, usually taken from the first inch and a half of growth closest to the scalp at the nape of the neck. This hair sample is then dispatched to a certified clinical laboratory, where it undergoes a series of chemical and high-temperature digestion procedures. Subsequent testing employs advanced detection equipment and methods, ensuring the attainment of the most accurate and precise results possible.

Hair is an ideal tissue for sampling and testing. Firstly, it can be cut easily and painlessly, and can be sent to the lab without special handling requirements. Secondly, clinical results have shown that a properly obtained sample can give an indication of mineral status and toxic metal accumulation following long term or even acute exposure.

The hair is a storage organ, and to some degree an excretory tissue. Measuring the mineral content of blood gives a good indication of the minerals being transported around the body, however it can not accurately measure the minerals stored in the tissues. This is because mineral levels are kept at a relatively constant level in the blood, even when an imbalance is present. As a result, the hair will change first, sometimes years before the blood.

Blood tests give information about your mineral levels at the time of the test only. They can be affected if you have just eaten a banana, your test can indicate a high potassium level, even though you may actually need potassium supplementation. On the other hand, hair analysis results indicate your overall potassium level - your actual storage levels over a period of time, not just what you ate that day or week. But the average over the period of the sample. A blood test will only accurately indicate what is circulating and being transported in your blood during the time of the test.

Testing for minerals in the urine measures the minerals that are being excreted from your body, and not necessarily what has been absorbed for fuel for your body. It is akin to checking out ones rubbish bin to see what is in the fridge. What is in the bin may or may not be in the fridge.

Toxic metals are also easier to detect in the hair, rather than in the blood. They are not found in high concentrations in the blood except right after acute exposure. However, most tend to accumulate in the soft tissues such as the hair, as the body tries to move them to locations where they will do less damage.

Example:
30 to 40 days following an acute exposure, elevated serum (blood) levels of lead may be undetectable. This is due to the body removing the lead from the serum (blood) as a protective measure and depositing the metal into such tissues as the liver, bones, teeth and hair.

Hair is used as one of the tissues of choice by the Environmental Protection Agency in determining toxic metal exposure. A 1980 report from the E.P.A. stated that human hair can be effectively used for biological monitoring of the highest priority toxic metals. This report confirmed the findings of other studies in the U.S. and abroad, which concluded that human hair may be a more appropriate tissue than blood or urine for studying community exposure to some trace elements. HTMA is best used in conjunction with other appropriate pathology tests for the most comprehensive picture of a person’s health.

Trace minerals are essential in countless metabolic functions in all phases of the life process.

Zinc is involved in the production, storage and secretion of insulin and is necessary for growth hormones.

Magnesium is essential for normal muscular function, especially the heart. A deficiency has been associated with an increased incidence of abnormal heart conditions, anxiety and nervousness.

Potassium is critical for normal nutrient transport into the cell. A deficiency can result in muscular weakness, mild depression and lethargy.

Excess sodium is associated with hypertension, but adequate amounts are required for normal health.

In the words of the late author and noted researcher, Dr Henry Schroeder, trace elements (minerals) are "...more important factors in human nutrition than vitamins. The body can manufacture many vitamins, but it cannot produce necessary trace minerals or get rid of many possible excesses."

The lab analyses 20 core nutritional and toxic elements, and provides a graph showing these levels. We can test for an additional 16 minerals for an extra charge.

They are: Calcium, Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium, Copper, Zinc, Phosphorus, Iron, Manganese, Chromium, Selenium, Lithium, Arsenic, Mercury, Cadmium, Lead, Aluminum, Nickel, Cobalt, Molybdenum.

(Optional) Germanium, Barium, Bismuth, Rubidium, Platinum, Thallium, Vanadium, Strontium, Tin, Titanium, Tungsten, Beryllium, Uranium, Boron, Sulfur, and Zirconium. Please contact us for pricing details.

Minerals interact not only with each other but also with vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Minerals influence each of these factors, and they, in turn, influence mineral status. Minerals act as enzyme activators, and vitamins are synergistic to minerals as coenzymes. It is extremely rare that a mineral disturbance develops without a corresponding disturbance in the synergistic vitamin(s).

It is also rare for a disturbance in the utilization or activity of a vitamin to occur without affecting a synergistic mineral(s). For example, vitamin C affects iron absorption and reduces copper retention. Boron and iron influence the status of vitamin B2. Vitamin B2 affects the relationship between calcium and magnesium. Vitamin B1 enhances sodium retention and lowers calcium, B12 enhances iron and cobalt absorption, and vitamin A enhances the utilization of zinc while antagonizing vitamins D and E. Protein intake will affect zinc status, etc.

Therefore, evaluating mineral status provides good clues of vitamin status and requirements. Continuing mineral balancing research involves the recognition of many synergistic and antagonistic interrelationships between minerals and vitamins.

HTMA is supported by an impressive body of literature in a variety of respected national and international scientific publications. Over the past fifty years, hair mineral testing has been extensive. Each year, in the United States alone, federally licensed clinical laboratories perform over 150,000 hair mineral tests for health care professionals, who are interested in an additional screening aid for a comprehensive patient evaluation. This does not take into consideration the thousands of subjects used in numerous continuing research studies conducted by private and government research agencies. For a list of some of the research involving hair tissue mineral analysis click here.

When the hair sample is properly obtained, hair analysis is extremely reliable and accurate. Highly sophisticated instruments and software programs allow for extensive quality control. The labs we use specialise in hair testing exclusively analyzing over 50,000 samples per year. Most labs that provide hair testing do other lab testing as well. The labs we use have a full attention on assuring accuracy of your results.

TEI (Trace Elements) and ARL (Analytical Research Labs) are the only two labs that we recommend using as they do not wash the hair sample. Washing the hair sample in harsh chemicals and detergents, removes large amounts of water-soluble elements (specifically sodium and potassium).

Hair is very porous, so washing can also damage the inside of the hair tissue, skewing the results. If you have obtained a HTMA from another lab, please take this into consideration. John can do an interpretation using other HTMAs, However additional fees will be charged due to the extra time that needs to be taken to convert the values and to interpret these tests.

If you consider that the nutrition that you retain is a direct result of the diet you consume, then with a hair tissue mineral analysis we can help you discover what your body needs, when it needs it and which nutrients to avoid.

This is a valuable tool for helping you reach a state of vibrant health. After 50 years, HTMA has emerged as the most practical method for testing your body’s mineral balance.

The Short answer - No.

Balancing minerals and interpreting a HTMA takes years of study and personal experience to really understand how it works. It is tempting to assume that you "just supplement with the minerals that you appear to be deficient in" however this is not the case. Every mineral interacts with every other mineral, raising one mineral will in turn deplete another and so on. It really is a balancing act! Doctors and Scientists have been studying this form of interpretation for over 50 years, and a qualified HTMA interpreter knows how to "read between the lines" and can recognise patterns of hidden minerals and toxic elements.

No. We test the hair for over 20 different minerals (i.e. nutritional and toxic minerals), We do not test the hair for chemicals, bacteria or drugs.

We test the hair to show the internal storage of nutritional and toxic minerals; we do not test the hair for allergies. However, due to our understanding of mineral balances, the interpretation report may indicate certain mineral patterns that are known to influence particular allergy types. We believe that many people cannot tolerate certain foods due to their biochemical status and not necessarily due to an immune response.

Bioresonance hair testing and HTMA are only similar in that they both use hair as the testing medium, but the technology and accuracy is very different. For bioresonance testing, it is based on a theory that Electromagnetic frequencies are emitted from the hair that can be correlated with various health concerns and guide treatment of correction. It is not accepted as such in the scientific community. 

HTMA is performed by a licensed laboratory, and the means of testing with ICP-MS is well accepted in many different sciences for analysis of trace elements. Hair also has many hundreds of research papers backing its use. 

HTMA with ICP-MS provides quantitative data on mineral concentrations, allowing for more precise interpretation and clinical application, whereas bioresonance testing tends to provide qualitative or semi-quantitative results that may be harder to interpret objectively, and is not as effective clinically.