The concept of ‘free radicals’ as an underlying chemical cause of disease at the cellular level has long been known. The process of Free Radical Therapy was defined and expanded by H.L. ‘Sam’ Queen in the 1990s. This approach is an excellent way to look at and measure the balance of a body’s physiology. It depends primarily on viewing the body as a complex, interrelated, nonlinear system that has mechanisms that allow it to stay healthy.

The concept of viewing laboratory results from this perspective is dramatic in its difference from the Western model, which is based upon disease. In disease states, biological systems are very chaotic and disrupted. Frequently the systems are so affected, the physiology so imbalanced, and the lab reactions so abnormal that a pharmacological approach that grabs on to the situation and restores order is clearly the best choice of action. The reference levels of laboratories, routinely called “normal” values, actually define the frontiers of disease.

Consider viewing labs from the point of view of “dysfunction,” a lesser physiological disturbance than disease. In this light, a “redefined” laboratory value represents a logical, predictable choice by the body to try and maintain its best homeostatic balance. The laboratory values then represent an effect from a cause that must be exposed. If we treat the cause deduced from the laboratory results, the lab value in question should return to a more optimal value. An example would be an elevated cholesterol whose causes could include genetics, poor diet, no exercise, chronic inflammation, hormone imbalance or toxic exposure. Each cause would require a very different corrective action.

The difference in using laboratories for wellness or disease depends totally on your point of view. In biological systems, we measure homeostatic processes and establish parameters of disease or wellness. This is called physiology. The study and practice of medicine is the complex interrelationship of these various systems (cardiovascular physiology, endocrine physiology, gastrointestinal physiology, etc.). Optimal lab values thus reflect and determine optimal physiology (homeostasis), which provides a measurable definition of wellness.

Medicine has long excelled at defining disease. Although it is fashionable in some circles to bash Western medicine for its deficiencies, only a fool would fail to recognize the amazing impact of scientific medicine on relieving human suffering. Western medicine with its strong reliance on scientific evidence remains the standard that people trust and prefer to rely on. Complimentary therapies can and do work, but their methodologies are less well understood by the general public. However, they often get results in areas where Western medicine cannot identify and recognize problems. These are the areas of dysfunction and the states of imbalance that exist before a disease manifests.

Using lab result measurements that illuminate dysfunction before it turns into disease; following a protocol (which may incorporate judicious use of Western medicine and/or complimentary therapies); and then monitoring changes and results over time provides individuals with powerful tools to manage their own health and wellness.