Stool
4D Specialist package
Comprehensive gut health analysis for patients with complex health problems.
€ 975,00
All tests
Gut · Stool
Total fatty acids (feces)
The total amount of fatty acids in the stool; gives an impression of fat absorption, but depends heavily on diet.
At a glance
- Measured in stool
- In 1 test panel
- No special preparation
Explanation
Total fatty acids (feces): what is measured?
Fatty acids are the building blocks of fat. They are formed when fat from food is broken down in the gut and are normally absorbed in the small intestine. The laboratory measures how many fatty acids (free and bound) are in a stool sample. A lot of fatty acids more likely fits a problem with absorption in the small intestine than a problem with breakdown.
What can it detect?
- A sign of reduced absorption of fat in the small intestine (malabsorption)
Result
What does the result mean?
Total fatty acids (feces) too high
A raised value can be caused by a fatty meal, diarrhea or weight-loss medicines that block fat absorption. A persistently raised value may fit poorer fat absorption in the small intestine, for example with celiac disease, or too little bile in the gut. Symptoms that go with it are fatty or mushy stool and unintended weight loss.
Total fatty acids (feces) too low
A low value means few fatty acids in the stool and fits good fat absorption or a low-fat diet. A low value has no further meaning.
After an abnormal result
Without symptoms, an abnormal result from this test usually needs no follow-up. With symptoms that fit poor digestion, the GP can request pancreatic elastase in the stool or a blood test for celiac disease, and if needed refer you to a gastroenterologist or internist (specialist in internal medicine).
Reliability
How reliable is the test?
Food remnants in a single stool sample mainly say something about what you have eaten and how quickly the food passed through the gut. How well the result shows or rules out poor digestion has not been well studied, neither in people without symptoms nor in people with bowel symptoms. If poor fat digestion (malabsorption) is suspected, the specialist may have fat measured in stool collected over a few days. For pancreatic function, pancreatic elastase in the stool has been studied better.
What can affect the result?
- Food in the days before sample collection (fat, meat, raw vegetables, legumes, dairy, sugars) largely determines the result.
- Diarrhea or, on the contrary, constipation changes the result, because the speed through the gut determines how much is digested.
- One stool sample gives a snapshot; the composition differs from day to day.
- Medicines such as laxatives, antibiotics, stomach acid inhibitors, pancreatic enzymes and weight-loss medicines that block fat absorption (orlistat) affect the result.
Who it is for
Who is the test useful for?
Useful for
Because diet strongly determines the result, this test says little in people without symptoms, and even with symptoms it does not identify a cause. With symptoms that may fit poor digestion, such as long-lasting fatty or mushy stools, unintended weight loss or long-lasting diarrhea, testing through the GP is the right route. Pancreatic elastase in the stool and a blood test for celiac disease are then more targeted first tests. With blood in the stool, unintended weight loss or new bowel symptoms after the age of 50, this test is no substitute for a visit to the GP.
How common is it?
There are no Dutch figures on how often an abnormal result for these tests occurs. Bowel symptoms themselves are common: according to the guideline, irritable bowel syndrome affects about 4 in 100 adults. Conditions in which food is truly poorly digested, such as chronic inflammation of the pancreas, are much rarer.
Dutch medical specialists' guidelines (FMS) on irritable bowel syndrome (NHG and NVMDL) and chronic pancreatitis
Get tested
Total fatty acids (feces): test panels
Total fatty acids (feces) is part of these test panels. You order online and have your blood drawn at a collection point or collect the sample at home.
Evidence
Sources
This explanation is based on Dutch guidelines and independent information. It is general information, not a diagnosis. Discuss an abnormal result with your GP.
More about risks and resultsMore explanations
Other tests: Gut
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- Acetic acid, relative (feces)
- Akkermansia, activity
- Alpha-1 antitrypsin (feces)
- Anti-gliadin IgA (feces)
- Anti-transglutaminase IgA (feces)
- Aspergillus fumigatus (feces)
- Aspergillus niger (feces)
- Bacteroides group, activity
- Beta-defensin 2 (feces)