How to Read the Vcs Test Results

If you are experiencing health issues and have been exposed to mold in your domicile or workplace, or you think you lot may have a mold issue in 1 of your indoor environments, it is hard to know where to turn for initial symptom cess and testing without spending lots of fourth dimension and coin on doctors visits that oftentimes don't yield conclusive information. Visual Contrast Sensitivity (VCS) Testing, an online self-assessment of your power to discern blackness/white/grey contrast, can aid. The test was useful to me in facilitating a connexion between my environment and my illness and has continued to be helpful for me in evaluating the effectiveness of my various treatments and new living environments. Thus, I would similar to share the details of VCS testing with you today.

Whenever mold exposure is a health business organisation, the obvious first stride should exist to address your environment and to figure out whether it has a trouble.  At that place are few tools as helpful as environmental testing with EC3 Mold Screening Test Plates to determine this.  These biologically-based Petri dishes are conclusive in determining the presence of mold. But, when it comes to your trunk and knowing whether or not it has been or is being affected by mold, there can exist defoliation and conflicting information. That is where some online tools and self-screening tests can be very useful. While none of these are conclusive without a doctor's further testing and diagnosis, they can combine circumstantial prove that tin can collectively exist relied on to make the difficult and elusive mold diagnosis.  Getting diagnosed early can save valuable fourth dimension and money and is priceless in helping the family unit manage through any mold hardships impacting their lives.

In my opinion, the best identify to start, especially if you are considering medical handling, is the Complimentary Sinusitis and Mold Sensitivity Evaluation available for FREE at SinusitisWellness.com. It includes questions about both your medical history and home and work environments. Your responses volition help to generate valuable information about whether or not your symptoms betoken to mold every bit the possible culprit for your health problems. This valuable information can and so be used to seek further medical help, or to accept practical steps in mold hygiene, or for useful products and follow-up. Since I take already featured this evaluation in a previous post, today I am going to shift my focus to VCS Testing, another self-screening tool, and what information technology can offer in terms of possible mold exposure insight.

What is the Visual Dissimilarity Sensitivity Test?

The VCS Test is not an eyesight or visual acuity test, merely rather a test to come across how discretely you can distinguish black/white/grey dissimilarity. Contrast sensitivity testing has been historically useful in cases of cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, and a number of other vision-related concerns. At present, thanks to the inquiry and validation done by Dr. Hudnell, PhD neurotoxicologist of the U.s.a. EPA, and Dr. Richard Shoemaker, it has also been proven useful in determining potential biotoxin affliction. So, while in that location are no routine lab tests to measure biotoxins, these doctors institute that you can mensurate their effects on the homo torso, with VCS testing. While not conclusive, The VCS demonstrates deficiencies and specific deficits in people exposed to biotoxins.

But, how?

Many mycotoxins produced past molds are neurotoxins that enter the body via inhalation.  The ultra-sensitive nerves of the olfactory organization and its proximity to the brain make neurological symptoms a reality, even with express exposure.  For sufferers, these symptoms are the nigh frightening of them all.

When this occurs, the rod cells in the retina (that affect contrast discernment) become useful in evaluating biotoxin exposure and illness, because people with mold/biotoxin illness almost e'er experience poor circulation at the capillary level. This causes inadequate delivery of oxygen to every cell in the torso. The brain is also non getting plenty oxygen to work optimally. Thus, the multitude of neurological symptoms associated with mold illness.

The cool matter that these doctors found is that testing the optic nerve and the eye'due south ability to distinguish contrast reveals this circulating oxygen decrease, considering contrast sensitivity in the retina is immediately afflicted and testable. Biotoxins in particular were found to affect your ability to come across a specific group of the dissimilarity bars on the test accurately. So, in cases where neurotoxicity is present, neurons that notice the smaller bars (high spatial-frequency vision) are functionally impaired, whereas neurons that find the larger bars (low spatial-frequency vision) are not. In improver, VCS testing gives a measurement at a specific point in fourth dimension and is infinitely repeatable without impairment or invasion to the person beingness tested. So, if mold illness is found to be your problems, VCS testing can also be helpful when you are looking to gauge improvement, re-exposure, or treatment effectiveness. Thus, the VCS Test is non only a great basic, initial screening tool,  but a great prognosticator as well.

How Exercise I Have a VCS Test?

In the by, you could go to a doctor'south, naturopath'southward, or holistic practitioner's function to be tested. This definitely constrained people's power to use the VCS as an early indicator of exposure, because it even so required taking the pace to seek medical advice prior to test admission. Later, Dr. Shoemaker offered the test on his SurvivingMold.com site for a fee. Now, the VCS test is bachelor for FREE, or for a small-scale donation with analytics or if repeat testing is needed at VCStest.com. This is swell news for anyone curious about testing or wanting to take a first hassle-gratis step towards figuring out whether or not mold or other biotoxin-related exposures may be causing their health bug. With this free initial testing model, yous can immediately receive a quantitative "Positive" or "Negative" answer as to whether or not y'all are displaying a visual contrast deficiencies peradventure indicative of mold or biotoxin affliction. With that information, yous tin can choose to seek further medical advice and/or testing.

VCSTest.com: How Is It Dissimilar and How Does Information technology Work?

VCSTest.com was started to aid those suffering with biotoxin disease figure out why they're ill, which ultimately helps them to recover, then they can get back to living.  The site offers a calibrated, accurate online contrast sensitivity exam based on the FACT (Functional Vigil Dissimilarity Test), which was developed almost four decades ago and has been used in medical research and clinically ever since.  The FACT uses a series of tilted sine-wave gratings (sets of parallel bars) to make up one's mind contrast sensitivity at 5 spatial frequencies. The person being tested will go through a series of test images calibrated at diverse gratings and respond each time as to whether the image they are viewing has its parallel bars pointing left, correct, or up.

According to the site's founder and developer who is a technologist and a physicist (past training and at heart, anyway), "Our test is authentic – and relied on by thousands of doctors – considering we've developed a calibration arrangement that allows us to tailor it to each individual user by accommodating their display size and pixel density, the desired test distance, and the infinite combinations of display types and settings, video cards and settings, operating systems and settings, and web browsers and browser configurations.  Using the calibration information, we collect from the user, we generate test images in software (on the fly) specifically for that person, so that the test images displayed are the correct size and take the right contrast levels.   Calibration is extremely of import; without information technology, you can't have accurate results.  As far as I know, there are no other accurate FACT-based online contrast sensitivity tests."

VCSTest.com offers its exam to anyone interested in checking their contrast sensitivity only focuses on contrast sensitivity testing as it relates to a number of serious wellness conditions. The majority of its users are generally suffering with 1 or more forms of chronic illness related to exposure to biotoxins, like those produced past many molds and past the pathogens responsible for Lyme disease and its common coinfections.

Also, according to the site's founder and developer, in that location are definite benefits of using the test, especially when symptoms initially begin:

"By looking at contrast sensitivity at ii spatial frequencies in item, nosotros can tell with a loftier degree of probability (there's a ~ii% faux positive rate and a ~eight% false negative rate, according to the research backside the test) whether or not someone is probable suffering from the effects of exposure to biotoxins.  This bit of information so helps our users and their doctors decide what might be backside their affliction.  It's important to note that contrast sensitivity testing isn't (and can't be) diagnostic, but only works equally a screen; this ways that you tin can't definitively diagnose any condition using information technology, but you tin can get a good idea whether and where you might have a problem so you know to look deeper (for instance, with an environmental assessment and/or challenge, basic blood labs, etc.).  Many who use our examination are suffering from complex, multi-symptom, multi-system illnesses, and they're looking for something that might help them figure out what's going on.  The test tin can also exist used to track and guess recovery progress over time by taking it regularly and comparing test scores.

Considering we also know that fiscal difficulties go hand-in-mitt with chronic illness, we offer the test on a free-or-past-donation basis, which means that we initially offer a free exam with express results and ask for a donation for more detailed results and/or to take the exam once more. If a user tin't donate, we'll upgrade results and provide additional testing for gratis if they transport us an email."

While the exam is generally pass/neglect, you lot can look at the biotoxin scores and the charts that are generated to determine whether – and to what degree – your contrast sensitivity has changed (hopefully for the better).  (This is when using the VCS can be very valuable after diagnosis and during treatment.) The maximum biotoxin score is 18 in each eye and 36 for both optics.  A comparing of how you've scored on consecutive tests, as a fraction of those totals, can exist used equally a crude indicator of how yous're doing.  For case, if you score a xx out of 36 (55%) on your first exam and 25 out of 36 (69%) when y'all retest a few weeks later, yous know your contrast sensitivity has improved and that whatever yous're doing is probable working. On the other hand, if your scores stay the same or get worse, you lot might want to consider doing something else.  At VCStest.com, test scores are plotted on a chart on the website, which makes tracking progress easier. (Note: This ability to chart your scores over time is available for a small donation.)

My Feel and How I utilize VCS Testing

I was initially given my first VCS test at my naturopathic doctor's office. It indicated that I had been exposed to mycotoxins.  My start score was 55%. And then, I was periodically given information technology to make sure things were still going well with my handling. I also tested after our remediation and nosotros were living in our home once more to make sure I was not still being exposed. I now take the VCS test online from time to fourth dimension at present merely to cheque in and brand sure I am still doing well.

(Note: Every bit I have learned, my experience is extremely common.  I've heard from many people who've used the test to help figure out why they're sick, and so over time to rails their recovery, so again when their circumstances change–when they motion, etc.–to determine whether the changes or their new environment are a problem for them.  At that place are also people who are extremely sensitive to mold who take the exam daily to brand certain their surroundings is safe and to track treatment progress.)

To close, I am going to take you through my most recent experience of taking the exam online at VCStest.com, so that yous know what to expect and what your results will look like, should you lot determine to accept it.

This is my actual test and my bodily results, considering I want to be completely transparent with you about healing from mold disease. As you can run into, information technology is an ongoing procedure. Full disclosure: I had been feeling a little "off" again. I had begun to experience symptoms of ulcerative colitis and was feeling fatigued. I took the test, and certain enough, it indicated that my percentages are all the same a little off. Considering of access to this information, I reached out to Dr. Dennis with my results. I am following his recommendations on further testing and supplements and volition rail my progress here on the blog.

My VCS Test

To begin, you login to your account or create a login if it is your outset time to the site.

So, you will be directed through test instructions and calibrating your test to requite y'all the most accurate results.

All of the calibration steps are piece of cake to follow and to understand. You are even given advice along the style if your computer doesn't seem to be a proficient fit for the examination.

Once the test begins, you volition be asked to encompass one heart at a time. volition go through a series of images for each eye.

You will go through a series of contrast images for each eye.

One time you have completed testing on both eyes, you will receive your results.

To explain the results a little improve, the charts plot your dissimilarity sensitivity examination for each eye.  The left axes represent contrast sensitivity, the correct axes represent percent contrast, and the bottom axes represent the spatial frequency of the parallel bars in the exam images in cycles per degree (CPD); the closer the bars, the higher the spatial frequency.

Each plotted circle represents an image from your test, and its position corresponds to its contrast level and spatial frequency.  The biotoxin columns – 6 and 12 CPD (columns C and D) – are outlined in blue.  A light-green-filled circle indicates that you answered correctly when asked to identify the tilt of the bars, whereas a red-filled circle indicates that you answered incorrectly.  The black 'tails' point in the management the confined in the exam images were tilted in your exam, and where you lot answered incorrectly the cherry tails point in the direction you indicated.

The greyness line represents the contrast sensitivity curve (average, both eyes) over the tested range of spatial frequencies amidst healthy individuals in the published research, and the ruby-red line is the curve formed by connecting the circles representing the highest dissimilarity sensitivity images correctly identified at each spatial frequency.   Higher contrast sensitivity numbers are ameliorate, and if the crimson line is generally above the grey line you outperformed healthy research subjects.  If, on the other hand, the red line dips substantially below the gray line at any point, you may have a wellness-affecting condition and should consider seeing your healthcare provider.

My Results: The Breakup

RESULTS – OVERALL:  POSITIVE

My results signal I was able to discern the tilt of the bars in the exam images 77 times out of 90, for a 'Total Score' of 77, or 86% .    As indicated above, my right visual organisation generally performed better than my left.

My positive results suggest that I may exist suffering from a status affecting my visual contrast. Thus, I should see my healthcare provider. I will say, though, that my results are incomparably ameliorate than my results 2 years agone of 55%.

RESULTS – BIOTOXINS:  POSITIVE

In the biotoxin columns – half dozen and 12 CPD (columns C and D) – which are generally considered well-nigh relevant and suggestive of biotoxin-related illness, you answered correctly 31 times out of 36, for a 'Biotoxin Score' of 31, or 86% . Since the test is essentially Pass/FAIL, a score of less than 100% is not platonic.

My results suggest the likely presence of biotoxins, and/or that I could have other health issues or neuropathology.

Annotation: Biotoxins that tin can touch contrast sensitivity at half dozen and 12 CPD include:  venom from animal or insect stings or bites, toxins produced by many species of mold, blue-green alga, dinoflagellates (particularly Pfiesteria and Ciguatera), parasites, and the pathogens responsible for Lyme disease and its common co-infections, and others. Poor contrast part at 6 CPD is besides correlated with both apply of cigarettes and tobacco products and exposure to sure volatile organic compounds, while contrast role at 12 CPD is correlated with cigarette and tobacco use. I practice not smoke, and then I must focus on the other things that could be affecting these markers.

RESULTS – NUTRITIONAL DEFICIENCY:  NEGATIVE

My results practise not signal that I suffer from nutritional deficiency or related conditions.

RESULTS – OTHER:  POSITIVE

Contrast function at eighteen CPD (column Eastward) is often affected in cases of biotoxin illness and is often used to measure progress during biotoxin affliction treatment, as dissimilarity sensitivity at this spatial frequency generally improves faster than at other spatial frequencies.  It is likewise correlated with a number of adventure factors, including use of cigarettes and other tobacco products, alcohol consumption, blood lead level, exposure to sure volatile organic compounds, and age and socioeconomic status.

Your 18 CPD results are beneath the average amid healthy research subjects and given your results at six and/or 12 CPD (columns C and D), it appears more likely you may suffer from biotoxin illness.

Annotation that both those experiencing a Jarisch-Herxheimer, or detox reaction, and Lyme sufferers undergoing treatment with Cholestyramine and/or Welchol often have impaired contrast part at 12 and 18 CPD (columns D and E) – and also generally experience worse. For me, this could likely be the example, considering when I took the test, I was actively using a charcoal binder and a liver-focused detox supplement.

Dr. Dennis's Recommendations

Since I no longer live in shut proximity to Dr. Dennis, I sent him my results via electronic mail. It is important to note that since the VCS is merely a screening tool, further diagnostics should E'er be washed prior to any treatment. That beingness said, I have a definite mold illness history, for which he treated me. Hither is his response:

"These results don't await that bad considering where you were testing earlier. This could still be an old exposure and hateful nothing. Let'south do some further testing to have a amend picture.

I will social club a blood depict to do TGF beta1 inflammation marker & IgG mold levels in your claret.

In the concurrently, make sure your diet consists of less refined carbs more than circuitous carbs from whole food sources, like fruits and vegetables. Add some (8 drops) of CitriDrops Dietary Supplement to four ounces of water two times day, a probiotic, and one tsp encephalon octane (MCT oil) per day. Also take Glutathione 2 times per solar day.

We will reevaluate when nosotros accept all of your results."

I hope this post has broken things down and answered any questions you may have had about VCS testing. Take you washed VCS Testing? Was it helpful? I want to hear from you lot.

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Source: https://moldfreeliving.com/2018/06/14/visual-contrast-sensitivity-vcs-testing/

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