Because everyone over the age of 2 will test positive for the presence of candia albicans in the digestive tract, testing for candida is not as simple as simply testing for the presence of the organism. The Doctor who first brought public awareness to the threat candida posed to us, Dr. William Crook suggested that a useful test needed to determine if your heath problems were candida albicans/yeast related. That is, not is the organism present in your body, but is it detrimentally affecting your health. A number of tests have been developed over the twenty years since Dr. William G. Crook first published his bestselling book revealing the serious consquences of this often dismissed disease.
Current Candida tests:
Stool Analysis: Even though this test may show large amounts of Candida in the stool the fact that Candida Albicans is a normal inhabitant of the distestive tract means that the test must be intepreted quantitatively. Also in many instances Candida colonies may adhere to the intestinal wall and result in false negative results. Determining lactobacilli numbers in the stool is necessary for a reliable diagnosis.
Antigen Titer Test: This test is not extremely accurate and false negatives results are fairly common.
Immune complex - antibody test: looks at the relation between IgM (short-term) and IgG (long-term) anti-bodies. With a sever case of Canidida IgG should be higher than IgM.
Darkfield microscopy: A good existing test is to look at the level of yeast in the blood and compare it to the antibodies's response. A weakend antibody response indicates a weakened immune system, a common side affect associated with Candida.
Candida Questionnaire by Dr. William G. Crook: This test developed in the 1970's relies on patient history and symptomology do determine a likleyhood of candida/yeast related health issues. Dr. Crook wrote this rearding his experience with this test on 1/14/2002: "You may be interested in knowing that even today the best test for the presence or absence of a candida-related problem is the questionnaire score, plus a therapeutic trial of diet and prescription or nonprescription agents". This Candida questionnaire is free to use due to Dr. William G. Crook's graciousness.