Description

Specimen: Blood draw required at your local LabCorp

**This test requires a blood draw at a local LabCorp. Please confirm local availability of LabCorp location via LabCorp.com. The lab orders will be sent to DHA Lab, who will call you directly to provide the lab requisition via email, plus location of your nearest LabCorp office, and everything you need to have your blood drawn.

Copper:

Copper serum is a highly reliable blood test that directly relates to brain chemistry. Elevated copper levels can alter the brain’s function, specifically the activity of dopamine and norepinephrine. Copper plays a large role in the metabolism of dopamine and the synthesis of norepinephrine. In turn, elevated copper levels lower dopamine levels and raise levels of norepinephrine. Imbalances in these essential brain chemicals have been related to paranoid schizophrenia, bi-polar disorder, postpartum depression, ADD, ADHD, autism, and violent aggressive behavior. Copper serum levels can single handedly be the root cause of an individual condition, but elevated copper serum levels are also known to cause zinc levels to deplete and oxidative stress to rise.

Hair analysis results provide copper levels, but hair analysis is a poor determination of free copper. Copper experts believe the most accurate ways to determine copper levels are to measure both copper serum and Ceruloplasmin. Ceruloplasmin is the major copper-carrying protein found in the blood. These two results can be plugged into an equation, which reveals the percentage of free copper.

“Hair analysis ALONE is a very poor way to assess copper status. I say this after (a) evaluating more than 100,000 hair analyses, (b) developing the first high-quality hair standards (loaned to NIH and other researchers), and (c) performing numerous double-blind, controlled experiments involving hair chemistries. Findings of high Cu levels in hair are compromised by the many external sources of Cu which cannot be completely removed by washing. Low levels of Cu in hair and/or blood often are coincident with dangerous overloads of Cu in liver. Hair Cu values can provide information of clinical significance, but by itself is not clinically decisive.”, Bill Walsh, PhD, Pfeiffer Treatment Center

Percentage of free Copper:

The amount of free serum copper is the amount of unbound copper circulating in the blood, which is unbound by Ceruloplasmin. This is the copper that is “free” to accumulate in the liver and other organs. A free copper percentage above 20% is classified as elevated and outside of the optimal range.

• 5 to 20% = normal
• 20 to 30% = high normal
• 30 to 40% = elevated (high oxidative stress)
• > 50% = severe elevation (severe oxidative stress)

The calculation for free copper is as follows:

(Total Serum Copper in ug/dl) – (Ceruloplasmin in mg/dl x 3) / Copper serum = Free Copper

Ceruloplasmin:

Ceruloplasmin is used in the evaluation of oxidative stress. When paired with copper, it is used to calculate free copper. When paired with other blood or urine copper tests, ceruloplasmin is used to help diagnose Wilson’s disease. This is due to a decreased ability to incorporate copper into apoceruloplasmin. In turn, free copper levels in plasma and tissue are greatly increased, especially in the liver and brain.

An estimated 95% of copper in the blood is bound to ceruloplasmin.  As a result, only a very small amount of copper is found in the blood in an unbound or free state.

Zinc:

Zinc Plasma is a measurement that is closely correlated to biochemistry, and more specifically brain chemistry. Functional levels of zinc, along with a copper/zinc ratio, are frequently performed as markers for specific neuro activity.

Zinc Plasma is also used to monitor exposure to zinc; evaluate suspected nutritional inadequacy, especially in enteral or parental nutrition, critically ill or burn patients; cases of diabetes or delayed wound healing; growth retardation; follow therapy.