IHT's database contains more than 30,000 tests and dates back more than 20 years; this database provides a foundation upon which to track the footprints of diseases. This database also provides a basis for personalized nutritional products and personalized diets.
 

Overview

One of the major challenges facing the healthcare industry is how to personalize, or tailor healthcare products and services to individuals' unique genetic and biomarker make-ups. There is an increasing awareness in the medical and nutritional industries of the futility of the “one size fits all” approach to treatment plans, products and services. Hence, a pressing need exists to be able to identify and track the genetic and biomarker “footprints of disease”, particularly those diseases that threaten the economic viability of our healthcare system---diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular diseases, and sarcopenia (the progressive loss of lean tissue with age.) Once these footprints have been identified and measured, they can then be used to personalize or tailor treatment plans, products and services to each individual's unique makeup and background.

Nutrigenomics. Medical genetics reflects the subtlety and variety of the science under girding prediction about disease susceptibility, behavioral dispositions and response to drugs and “…tremendous opportunity for entrepreneurial conversion of human genomics into viable commercial ventures. For the foreseeable future, expect the proliferation of business development in human genomics” Castle, Editorial, Postgrad Med J 2003;79:65-66.

 Is nutrigenomics fundamentally nutritional counseling buttressed by genetic test, or is it medical genetics counseling with dietary recommendations in place of pharmaceutical prescriptions?
 

Obesity Treatment: Does One Size Fit All?

 In a 12-week study researchers compared the effects of two low-calorie diets of equal fat content (21%): a diet that was higher in protein and lower in carbohydrates versus a diet lower in protein and higher in carbohydrates. The researchers concluded that the higher protein diet provided “…nutritional and metabolic benefits that were equal to and sometimes greater than those observed in the higher-carbohydrate diet.”
However, the real story according to Dr. James O. Hill, a well-known obesity researcher, who reviewed the study in the same journal issue, is that when it comes to dieting, one size does not fit all. Dr. Hill is referring to a sub-group of subjects in the study who differed from the rest on one of the blood chemistries who “…responded particularly well to the higher-protein diet. It is logical and intriguing to think that we can maximize weight loss by matching patients to a particular diet…” using measurements that shown them to be different from the other subjects. Hill suggests that we may be able to individual diets for weight management and that there may be different diets for losing weight as opposed to maintaining weight loss. That, of course, as stated earlier, one of the major benefits of IHT's database. It may well contain the type of measurements that will allow for personalizing weight loss programs and products to individuals with nutritional profiles, or fingerprints, who are most like to benefit from different diets and products.
AJCN, Jun 2005, Vol 81, p. 1253-4 and pp. 1298-1306

An even more dramatic example of the value of tailoring the diet to the dieter is provided by a recent study of cholesterol lowering diets on the next slide.
 

When a Cholesterol-Lower Diet Backfires: The Need To Match the Diet To the Dieter

This study compared the effects of two different types of protein—soy and dairy—on people who had high levels of LDL (the harmful cholesterol). The researchers also measured C-reactive Protein (CRP), a blood test that measures inflammation and can predict coronary disease more accurately than any measure of cholesterol. (Since IHT has thousands of CRP measurements in its database, a more detailed description of the test is provided on the following pages.) All subjects followed a low-fat, high-fiber diet previously shown to lower LDL levels.

The researchers found a significant reduction in LDL irrespective of the type of protein that based on their baseline CRP measurements. Subjects with starting CRP levels below 3.5 mg/L had positive changes in both the harmful LDL cholesterol and HDL helpful cholesterol levels. However, subjects with starting CRP levels above 3.5 mg/L had the opposite effect—their harmful cholesterol increased while their helpful cholesterol decreased. Thus, consistent with the previous study, not only does this study underscore the need to match the dieter to the diet, but failure to do so could increase, rather than decrease, the dieters risk factors. This personalization of the diet to the dieter's unique blood chemistries is precisely the type of analyses offered by IHT's data base. Furthermore, it underscores the potential of the database to identify other unique fingerprints of dieters to match them to different types of diet.
Journal of Nutrition, 2005,Vol. 135, p. 1075-9)

Using the Database to Match Dieters to Diets and Products

These studies also highlight how the database can be used to identify those people with CRP levels above 3.5 who have been unsuccessful in controlling their cholesterol even though they have followed the traditional cholesterol-lowering diets. Once these people are identified, it may be that they need to first concentrate on reducing their CRP levels before embarking upon the low-fat, high-fiber diet. It could be that a higher protein diet would benefit these people more than the low-fat high-fiber diet. In any case, there are thousands of people in the database who have high CRP levels and could benefit from trying different dietary patterns and supplements.

Another use of the database is to locate people who are most likely to benefit from newly discovered supplements and functional foods. For example, recent studies have suggested that the recommended levels of Vitamin D3 may be far below the amounts required to support or even increase bone density. A number of studies have suggested that taking amounts 10 to 20 times the recommended 400-800 I.U.s a day led to significant increases in bone density as well as reductions of other risks fact. One study even suggested that supplemental Vitamin D may aid in the prevention of prostate cancer. While these studies clearly need to be replicated, all of these studies have consistently suggested that there are no adverse side effects from taking increased amounts of Vitamin D. Since IHT can contact many of the people in its database, it is a simple procedure to UserName those subjects who have not been able to preserve or increase their bone densities through the procedures they have been following

Blood Tests in Database

Many (~8,000) of the individuals completing the DEXA tests also completed a fasting 42- or 43-chemistry blood test panel at or near the same time that they completed the DEXA. About 2,000 of these individuals also had their systemic inflammation assessed by the hs-C-Reactive Protein test. A listing of the blood tests that were on the typical panel, along with information on the hs-C-reactive protein test, can be found by clicking on the blood test icon below.

Listing Of Blood Chemistries in Database
 

Lipid Levels Fail to Predict Heart Attacks 50% Of The Time


 

Predicting Cardiovascular Events With Cardio CRP

The Value Of CRP Testing

CRP As A Predictor of Heart Attacks

IHT's Mobile Units For On-Site DEXA Testing
 

IHT's Mobile Units for on-site DEXA Testing

The Ford F-10 Units, shown above, are each capable of testing up to 4 people an hour and providing the test reports shown on previous pages within two hours of completion of each test.
 

IHT's DEXA Testing Equipment Is Available In Each Mobile Unit

Test is completed in ~20 minutes while fully clothed. Radiation exposure is minimal; it is similar to the exposure during a cross-country flight.
 

Types of DEXA Test Measurements

The test provides total body as well as regional measurements of fat, lean, bone mineral content and bone mineral densities in the regions shown below.

DEXA Test Report - Page 1: Individual's Skeleton

The test provides an x-ray of the body with comparisons of bone mineral densities for young-adult and age-matched standards. See the comparison chart below.