At our clinic, we practice a systems and biology-based approach to healthcare that focuses on identifying and addressing the underlying causes of illness. To get the information we need, the clinic runs diagnostic tests that you may not be familiar with in your previous doctor’s appointments. This is because we subscribe to a simple motto of “test, don’t guess.”
At Restoration Healthcare, we are not interested in merely treating symptoms, but in restoring, hope, optimal health, and fitness, all the way down to the cellular level. Moreover, we are not satisfied with simply managing a chronic illness or disease, but also reversing its course and helping you heal any damage it may have caused. To help us root out the underlying causes of illness, we tend to run more diagnostic tests than you may be accustomed to when seeing a conventional medical practitioner. That’s because we subscribe to a simple motto of “test, don’t guess.”
How are Your Diagnostic Tests Different from other Clinics?
Dr. Tom Bakman co-founded Restoration Healthcare has worked to define, refine, and promote an integrated medical model since 1993. His passion for and advanced studies in functional neurology, allows him to not only interpret lab test results and the results of diagnostic studies, but to also pick up on the early signs of a disease. With this information in hand, the rest of the medical team at Restoration Healthcare is better prepared to craft and monitor your personalized plan of care.
Our integrative approach to care means that we look at the body systemically, meaning that we examine how each system of the body is being affected by the other. Unlike conventional approaches to diagnostics, which focuses on identifying treating individual symptoms or diseases, systems medicine looks at the body as a complex network of interconnected systems.
This approach considers the interactions between different organs, tissues, and cells, as well as the influence of environmental and genetic factors on health and disease. By studying these complex interactions, we can use a personalized and targeted treatment plan that address the underlying causes of your disease, rather than just managing symptoms. In essence, systems medicine seeks to understand the bigger picture of health and disease, and to develop more effective and personalized approaches to patient care.
The following are diagnostic tools you will see at our clinic. We combine the information and data with laboratory data and your medical history to establish a plan of care.
Balance Tracking System (B Tracks)
Whenever you have a physical examination, your doctor is likely to perform a couple rudimentary tests to assess nerve function. You’re probably familiar with them. In one test, your doctor taps just below your kneecap with a small rubber mallet to check your reflexes. This is a basic neurological test to make sure the lines of communication between your brain and the rest of your body are working properly. Here at Restoration Healthcare, we often use a more sophisticated tool for testing the health and function of the nervous system. It’s called Balance Tracking System (or BTrackS for short), and we employ this test because we believe your nervous system deserves more than just a tap on the knee or the shine of a light into your eyes to gauge its stability. BTrackS enables us to evaluate how effectively the neurological communications network is carrying signals. If you’d like to know even more, please read: Using the Balance Tracking System to Test the Health of Your Nervous System.
Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)
The ANS testing is a valuable diagnostic tool that helps us dig down to the root cause of a variety of illnesses and dysfunctions. We conduct ANS testing in our clinic primarily for three reasons: 1. To determine whether you have an illness or dysfunction that attacks the autonomic nervous system. Certain chronic conditions, including diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, autoimmunity, and chronic stress, can damage the nerves of the ANS; 2. To detect early warning signs of ANS impairment even before symptoms become noticeable, so that we can identify and address issues before they cause more damage; 3. To find out why someone is not responding as well as expected to treatments for other conditions, and to guide treatment recommendations moving forward. If you’d like to know more about ANS testing at Restoration Healthcare, please read Bringing Your Autonomic Nervous System in for a Checkup, or ask for a copy of “Understanding Autonomic Nervous System Testing: A Restoration Healthcare guide to understanding the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and ANS testing.”
RightEye’s Brain Health EyeQ Diagnostic
RightEye’s Brain Health EyeQ Diagnostic test enables us to generate markers and collect valuable data that reflect your brain health and function. Vision is thought to require the use of about 80 percent of the brain’s neural pathways. The RightEye test uses eye movement to stimulate various regions of the brain while monitoring reactions to visuals displayed onscreen. An EyeQ examination is a non-invasive, pain-free procedure that takes place at our clinic. During this 15-minute exam which takes place at our clinic using special computer-based software and hardware, you simply follow and respond to objects moving on a screen — it’s as simple as playing a video game. For even more information on this diagnostic, please read: Using RightEye to Determine Brain Health.
InBody Body Scan Test
As practitioners of functional medicine and integrative healthcare, we look at objective measures — not only to assess the underlying status of your health, but to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatments we recommend. Conventional measures of weight, temperature, and blood pressure are helpful, as are lab tests to examine blood counts, glucose and cholesterol levels, nutrient levels, and so on. In addition to these and other office and lab tests, we routinely conduct a body composition analysis using the In Body 770 — a premium, medical/research-grade body composition and body water analyzer that can fully analyze body composition in just one to two minutes. The In Body 770 also provides phase angle measurements to determine the integrity of your cells. With these phase angle measurements, we can determine the overall health and vitality of your body’s cells and monitor the effectiveness of recommended treatments. For more information on InBody , please read: Using the InBody 770 Body Composition Tool to Support Data-Driven Healthcare.
Creyos Brain Assessment
Like all medical practices should, we look at your cognitive function as an important diagnostic indicator and as a metric for monitoring improvement and evaluating treatment success. Over the course of your treatment, regular cognitive assessments provide us with valuable information that helps us with adjustments we may choose to make to your plan of care. To help us evaluate cognitive function, we use the Creyos (formerly the Cambridge Brain Sciences) brain health assessment service, which measures core elements of cognitive function, including memory, attention, reasoning, and verbal abilities.
Researchers and healthcare practitioners across the globe use the Creyos service to assess scientifically accurate measures of cognition. The service evaluates cognitive function and brain health to keep a close tab on any changes. One or more tasks need to be completed for the assessment, with each divided into the categories of memory and reasoning. Best of all, the Creyos assessment can be completed at home on a laptop, desktop, or tablet computer. For more information on cognitive testing, please read: Why We Use Cambridge Brain Sciences (Creyos) to Evaluate Cognitive Function.
