How to Diagnosed Leaky Gut Syndrome
Your Gut is a hollow pipe and the Lumen of this pipe is an external world. Your gut is naturally semi-permeable to small particles (micronutrients), that pass through your intestinal wall and into your bloodstream. It’s how you absorb your food. Let’s consider the Intestinal wall as border security and that doesn’t allow Certain external factors like larger food particles, infections, and toxins. But when you compromised this border security and break apart the tight junctions in your intestinal wall, you make your internal system vulnerable. Once this happens, you have a leaky gut. When your gut is leaky, much larger toxins, microbes, and undigested food particles can escape into your bloodstream. Your immune system marks these “foreign invaders” as pathogens and attacks them.
The Intestinal Security System
There are 4 layers or barriers, which protect our internal environment from ingested toxins, organisms and allergens:
1st layer – Bacteria [which form the bulk of the fecal content of our intestines]
2nd layer – Mucus Coating [lining the inside of the intestine]
3rd layer – Gut Lining Cells [it is the loss of “tight junctions” between these enterocytes that is the prime factor in the development of a leaky gut]
4th layer – Immune System [which is concentrated in the extensive Peyer’s patches around the intestines]
Signs You Have a Leaky Gut
- Digestive issues such as gas, bloating, diarrhea, or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)
- Food allergies or food intolerances
- Brain fog, difficulty concentrating, ADD, or ADHD
- Mood imbalances such as depression and anxiety
- Skin issues such as acne, rosacea, or eczema
- Seasonal allergies or asthma
- Hormonal imbalances such as irregular periods, PMS, or PCOS
- Diagnosis of an autoimmune disease such as rheumatoid arthritis, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, lupus, psoriasis, or celiac disease
- Diagnosis of chronic fatigue or fibromyalgia
Causes of Leaky Gut
There are many factors in our modern lifestyles that cause these barriers to become compromised/weakened, and thus increasingly permeable.
Among the most important are:
- Stress [mental, physical or emotional]
- Drugs, especially alcohol, hormone pills, and anti-inflammatory drugs.
- Food allergies and sensitivities.
- Environmental pollutants and toxins, including free radicals.
- The first antibiotic, penicillin, did not enter mainstream health care until 1939. Since the 50s and 60s, antibiotic use has been frantically prescribed for every infection and inflammation, particularly pediatric ear infection, bronchitis, and sore throat. It is sadly ironic that most of these infections are viral in nature, and not only are the antibiotics damaging, but they are ultimately unnecessary. Antibiotics should be considered a hospitalization level medicine when bacteria have entered the blood, bone, or organ.
Altered gut permeability gives rise to allergic and other chronic diseases by making it possible for partially digested food particles, toxic wastes, and even bacteria to pass directly into the bloodstream. The immune system springs into action and forms immune clusters around the foreign particles. These clusters circulate to all parts of the body, causing a wide variety of symptoms such as eczema, asthma, arthritis, irritable bowel, migraines, etc. The constant drain on the immune system can then lead to an immune-suppressed illness.
How to Diagnosed Leaky Gut
We had found most scientific and advance lab that can be diagnosed and monitor leaky gut is Array 2 – Intestinal Antigenic Permeability Screen By Cyrex Lab, US
Antibody Array 2 for assessment of intestinal barrier integrity measures antibodies against bacterial endotoxins (lipopolysaccharides), tight-junction proteins (occludin, zonulin) and cell cytoskeleton (actomyosin), and identifies both transcellular and paracellular routes of intestinal barrier penetration by large molecules with a capacity to challenge the immune system.
