Sandy: >In some recent discussions of blood test result comparisons of Ellie and Kirt, >there was mention of a figure that kirt had of 0 something 0 ESR. This stands for "erythrocyte sedimentation rate". The only thing I know about it comes from Ronald Schmid's book, "Native Nutrition". He says: "Erythrocytes are red blood celss.THe ESR measures the extent to which erythrocytes settle to the bottom of a thin glass tube in one hour, which is a function of the relative amounts of proteins, antibodies, and other substances in the blood. In health, they settle very little. This is a non-specific screening test, frequently done; the result is elevated in many diseases, and also, often, in a normal pregnancy. "The ESR is commonly used as an alternative measure of the activity of autoimmune diseases in which the body reacts adversely to its own tissues, such as rhumatoid arthritis and lupus. In general, the more severe the problem the greater the elevation. "The normal sedimentation range is up to 10 ml/hour in men and 20 in women. In very healthy individuals, the ESR may approach zero. Lthough blood may be thin due to endurance exercise, in an individual with proper diet the red blood cells scarely settle at all in the test. Readings consistently between zero and one are seen over the yeasr in such individuals." >Also do you know what this means. Does this mean there are no disease >processes, inflammations, or infections, going on in your body? Who knows? Not I. What I quoted above is the only thing I've read about it. Just one guy's opinion. >Also have you had hair analysis done? No. I am not certain how I would interpret any results so I don't see what the point would be. Cheers, Kirt Secola /\ Nieft [log in to unmask]