If it is in the scope of your practice to draw blood, the inflammation ratio is a simple in-house test. In Georgia, chiropractors cannot draw blood (as in many states), but it is legal to provide the test kits to the patient, and they can perform at home on themselves as it is a simple finger prick blood spot test kit.
My experience is patients love to know these specific numbers and appreciate us telling them what they need. In their eyes, this test and these types of services automatically place our clinic as a go-to destination when patients want real honest answers and solutions. Unfortunately for patients, most clinicians, no matter the licensure, do not provide these specific tests, although this is one of the most straightforward and beneficial tests for any age and condition.
Many people and doctors already take fish oil to decrease inflammation and want to receive all the benefits, including building a healthy brain, joints, heart, hormones, immune system, etc. Taking fish oil (or any supplement) without a scoring method has shown to be very inefficient. An optimum AA/EPA ratio is 1.5 and extends to 4 as a “healthy ratio.” AA = Arachidonic Acid (inflammatory) / (EPA = Eicosapentaenoic Acid (anti-inflammatory).
Over the past three years, I began providing a complimentary test after my seminars (from LipidLab.com 888.630.6634) to doctors who attend. Over 97%+ claimed to be regular fish oil supplement takers and have taken numerous seminars that promoted the health benefits of maintaining a proper AA/EPA ratio and the importance of performing the lab test. Despite this, I rarely see a doctor score below a ratio of 15:1. YIKES! In fact, out of 250 tests on clinicians, only five have passed the test with a score of 4 or below! If we use a score of 3, that means the person is 5X too inflamed if the score is 15:1
