A computer test for toxins in your brain?
My LLMD is suspicious that part of my brainfog issues stem from chronic neurotoxins. To sniff out the possibility, he asked me to check out ChronicNeurotoxins.com. It’s a site created and run by Dr. Shoemaker, a well-respected doctor and Lyme advocate (not sure if he’s what we would call a LLMD) and do his Visual Contrast Sensitivity (VCS) test.
Taking the VCS test is simple, painless, costs $15.00 (for the basic test) and takes about 15 minutes. The process involves filling out a simple online form and then looking at a series of patterns on your computer.
On the site, Dr. Shoemaker says,
[T]he “Visual Contrast Sensitivity” test, or VCS – that can tell a physician in five minutes whether or not the patient is suffering from the harmful effects of neurotoxins on the brain’s ability to distinguish contrast between black, white and gray. The deficit in the visual pathways mirrors the adverse effect the neurotoxins are causing throughout the body.
Really?
Like so many thing with this stupid disease, I find the theories behind some of the diagnostic tools a little suspect. Things like Kinesiology (muscle testing) and even some of the laboratory test just seem bogus to me. The VCS is no exception, but, because my LLMD asked me to give it a try I did.
Overall score = negative.
The image above shows my test results. Another negative test to add to my collection.
My left eye tested worse than my right, but I believe this was due to the way I carried out the test. The first step involves covering your left for about 5 minutes while you look at the patterns on your monitor with your right. I found that when it came time to switch eyes and open my left and cover right, my left eye was all blurry and dry from holding my hand on it. I guess I could have waited 10 minutes for everything to sort itself out, but I decided to push ahead. This definitely made the latter part of the test difficult.
Has anyone else done this test?
I’d be curious to hear other thoughts and/or results on this test. Like I said, I feel that the nature of the test is a rather questionable, but I’m open to hearing some personal accounts to the contrary.
