I have read the sticky on Australian secretor testing, just wondering....

My naturopath now has the ABO blood typing kit, we are going to test my daughter with the saliva first to see if we can find out her blood type this way.   Obviously if we get a result then she is a secretor.  But if nothing shows up can we be sure she is a nonnie?  I don't want to assume, I would like to be certain  

performing the lewis test only is how you can know whether she s a secretor or a nonnie......then there s the 'rare birds' like the lewis double negatives Le a- b-  or the lewis double positives.
Le a+ b+ (VERY rare) both would need the saliva test to determine secretor status
Le (a+b-) is always a non secretor
Le (a-b+) is always a secretor

She's doing the saliva (and possible finger prick test) tonight.  Are you saying that even if the saliva doesn't give us a reading she could still be a secretor?

I can be sure she is a secretor if the saliva test gives a result, can't I? Otherwise how does the saliva show her blood type?

Sorry for all the questions.

I believe the bloodtype antigen will show up on the saliva test, yes.....

Thanks Lola, I appreciate your help  

keep us posted, and ask anything you want, we ll try and find the answer, together......

Well, we found out my baby is an 'O' (she's 8 so not really a baby)

The saliva test had no reaction so we did the finger prick.

can they perform the lewis test with a blood sample to determine her secretor status?

I have absolutely no idea, I am learning so much just by reading the posts in this forum, and of course going back to my books and checking things out.  

The saliva test they did took 2 samples of saliva, one for A type and one for B type, then she put a different drop on each of them.  When there was no visible reaction she did the same thing but with the drops of blood (just with a finger prick).  Still with no reaction which discounts Type A, B and AB.  So we know she's a Type O, but it doesn't give Rh factor or secretor status.

If she was A, B or AB and a secretor it would have shown up on the saliva test.  

If I am wrong with this, anyone, please feel free to explain otherwise (I love learning new things!)

Quoted Text

Dr. D'Adamo had this to say about differences in secretor testing: "Having done 5000 Lewis typing tests in the clinic over the last 15 years, and about 400 salivary inhibition studies, I can safely say that saliva testing is more accurate than blood. The reason being that the agglutinations that are used to determine Lewis types are very delicate (weak antibody reaction) and can easily be misinterpreted, unlike ABO which makes a big glop that you cannot miss (strong antibody). I've even seen conflicting results from two different MedPath labs, especially if the staff is not trained well enough." The subject is discussed in more depth in one of the Science Knowledge Base Entries.
http://www.dadamo.com/knowbase/subtype/subtype6.htm

Thanks for the info Lola.  That explains much.

Even though she is Type O, labs can still test her saliva to see if she is a salivary secretor. Not sure if your lab has the capability though.

Quoted Text

labs can still test her saliva to see if she is a salivary secretor.

that would be a Lewis test, and not all labs have it readily available, ask around.
a hospital blood bank lab is more viable

My understanding:

Lewis test is a test of the blood.  When one is a Lewis double-negative, they are advised to follow the salivary non-secretor diet with the BTD.  Lewis secretors and Lewis non-secretors can follow their respective BTD diets.

The salivary secretor test is different than the Lewis blood typing system.  The results are often "interchangeable" in most cases.  The exception is when someone is a salivary secretor but a Lewis double-negative.  In this instance, one would follow the non-secretor BTD recommendations.  

Quoted Text

Dr. D'Adamo had this to say about differences in secretor testing: "Having done 5000 Lewis typing tests in the clinic over the last 15 years, and about 400 salivary inhibition studies, I can safely say that saliva testing is more accurate than blood. The reason being that the agglutinations that are used to determine Lewis types are very delicate (weak antibody reaction) and can easily be misinterpreted, unlike ABO which makes a big glop that you cannot miss (strong antibody). I've even seen conflicting results from two different MedPath labs, especially if the staff is not trained well enough." The subject is discussed in more depth in one of the Science Knowledge Base Entries.
http://www.dadamo.com/knowbase/subtype/subtype6.htm

Lewis test is done through blood or saliva.....

Lola,

Quoted Text

Because saliva testing is actually assessing the presence or absence of ABH antigen in saliva, it is the only method to determine secretor status correctly in all populations.

There is, however, another method using blood and testing for a blood grouping system (the Lewis groups) that can be used to infer secretor status, but suffers from the inability to reliably determine secretor status in 100% of the population.

Lewis "blood grouping system" is a test of the blood.  Salivary secretor testing is of the saliva.

that is very helpful Vicki, thanks!