I was tested 6 years ago at the Bowen Lab in Florida. I'm getting concerned because I never hear anyone recommend that lab and I'm wondering why. Is that lab good or not? Thanks! Posted by Ann-OH (Member # 2020) on :
The test you had is no longer done. It was a study that went on for years and years and was never published. People paid for the test with a donation to Bowen which is a non-profit organization.
The flow cytometry test is a study, too. Neither of these tests has been approved by the FDA, though flow cytometry is used for several other reasons.
Ann - OH - a fellow Ohioan
Posted by Blackstone (Member # 9453) on :
Just a conversation I had with my LLMD today - he and his associates do not feel that Bowen is clinically responsible. Nearly everything they do comes back positive. IgeneX is a better choice.
Posted by bejoy (Member # 11129) on :
Flow Cytometry from Central Florida Research did get approved by the state of Florida in January. It is similar to the Bowen Q-RiBb only it's done with a computerized machine.
I got top scores with Bowen and a negative with CFR two months apart. Go figure.
It could be because I treated for Bb with herbs and microcurrent in between tests and am now all betta, because Bowen was reporting all borrelia strains and not just Bb, because I never had it to begin with (not likely), or some other reason.
I did use the Sota SP lite blood cleaner for a week before the CFR test. Maybe that thing worked some quick magic. I'd like to believe that.
I'm curious to hear about other's results with CFR, because I have high hopes for their ability to give some accurate information.
bejoy
Posted by Rocker (Member # 11424) on :
I think you are wrong Blackstone. The Bowen lab isn't the same as the Central Florida Research lab. I talked to lab which is in Lake Alfred, and they have been there for two years now. The Bowen lab was non-profit and that lab closed down the end of December and it was located in Palm Harbor. The Central Florida Research lab is located in a different city in Florida. They only thing they have in common with the Bowen lab is that they have practitioners that do the Bowen Technique at the Central Florida Research lab. Which is a kind of massage technique. I had my lyme test there and it was positive, however one of my friends was negative. As it was explained to me the test detects the actual bacteria in both the spirochete and cyst forms in the blood. As you know the lyme bacteria has the ability to change form and hide from the immune system so the antibody test which are looking for antibodies won't always find them. That means you may have a false negative test with antibody testing. Also, this new test from the Central Florida Research Lab is State and CLIA approved. A State and CLIA approval means the test was approved by a team consisting of representatives from the Health Dept., Medicare, Medicaid and the CDC. This new test is the only blood antigen test approved by CLIA. You can check all this out at their website...just go to www.centralfloridaresearch.com
One of their consultants talked to me and she was very knowledgeable, had a Ph.D. in laboratory science.
Worth checking them out. Rockin, Rocker
Posted by bejoy (Member # 11129) on :
A couple of the staff from Bowen went with Central Florida Research when Bowen closed. They have some relationship to one another, but are not the same company.
Posted by seibertneurolyme (Member # 6416) on :
Rocker,
Dr Whitaker who was the head of the Bowen lab moved the Bowen lab to Lake ALfred (her hometown) a couple of years ago. There were press releases at the time.
I think she retired for health reasons -- she has chronic Lyme and I think I read she had had a stroke.
Not sure if her daughter is associated with the new lab or not. She worked with her in the Bowen lab.
Bea Seibert
Posted by daisylynn (Member # 4895) on :
Thanks for everyones reply. I've thought about this and don't think I will worry about it because I've had all the symptoms of lyme. I was bitten by 2 ticks and had the rash which my family doctor told me was nothing but shingles. I've had swollen ear lobes which I went to the doctor with also and I ended up in the hospital with a very painful eye infection that I was told was iritis. I was kinda worried that the test I had by Bowen maybe needed to be redone by someplace else but with all my symptoms, I think I won't worry about it and my lyme doc says I DO have lyme. Posted by Truthfinder (Member # 8512) on :
As a side note, the Q-RIBb test may not be totally gone from the scene.
at first it appears that this is an old site because people are referred to Bowen Research for testing. But it also mentions "protocol physicians" who are participating in the use of the Q-RIBb test (bottom of first page).
If you click on "Research Papers", you will see that articles by JoAnn Whitaker and others have been posted as recently as January of THIS YEAR. (!) Very curious. I am unable to bring up any of the articles - the processor and fans go crazy in my computer when I try to open any of them.
So, it may be that there are some select doctors out there who may be performing this test if anyone is interested. I guess you could use the contact info at this website to find out.
Tracy
Posted by SandiB (Member # 1557) on :
The Bowen lab is closed and the Q-RIBb test is no longer available. However, the new test from Central Florida Research uses the same fluorescenting as the Q-RIBb test with 21st Century Technology using the Flow Cytometer. The test is the ONLY BLOOD ANTIGEN test approved. You people are confused if you think the FDA approved any test. The FDA approves food and drugs. CLIA approves labs and testing. I think the fact that the CDC says that the FDA RECOMMENDS the two tier testing for Lyme with the ELISA and Western Blot makes people think that the FDA approves the ELISA and Western Blot? Anyway you can't get a better approval than the State and CLIA for any test. CFR used the Western Blot as the 'standard' when they performed the comparisons for State and CLIA approval, and the CFR test out performed the Western Blot.
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