Functional testing
The organic acids test: 1 urine sample, a metabolic snapshot
The organic acids test (OAT) measures dozens of metabolic by-products in a single urine sample, collected at home. It suits children with complex, multi-system pictures: fatigue plus mood plus gut symptoms that refuse to sort themselves into 1 tidy box, and children for whom blood draws are a battle. Like every testing pathway here, it follows a consultation, not a hunch: it is a wide-angle lens we reach for when the question itself is still wide.
What it measures
1 sample, several windows
Organic acids are the small molecules left behind as the body goes about its chemistry. Reading them together gives several windows at once: energy production (markers from the pathways cells use to make fuel), neurotransmitter turnover (by-products of how messengers like dopamine and serotonin are processed, not the levels in the brain itself), gut microbial activity (compounds produced by yeasts and bacteria that end up in urine), and nutrient demand(patterns that suggest certain vitamin cofactors are being asked to work hard). That breadth from 1 needle-free sample is the test's entire appeal.
What it can and can't tell you
Breadth costs certainty, so let's be straight about the limits. Every OAT marker is indirect: an unusual neurotransmitter metabolite does not measure what is happening in your child's brain, and a microbial marker is not a stool-test substitute. The result is also a snapshot, nudged by what your child ate, any illness that week and collection timing. An OAT cannot diagnose a condition, and we will never pretend it does. What it can do well is generate good leads: when several markers lean the same way, they tell us where to focus next, sometimes saving a needle-anxious child a series of blood draws while we work out which specific question matters most.
When we recommend it
We reach for an OAT when the picture is genuinely multi-system (energy, mood, gut and sleep all tangled together), when previous single-system tests have come back unremarkable yet the struggle is real, or when blood collection is not realistic for your child right now and a wide needle-free screen beats no data at all. When the question is already specific, a targeted test usually serves better, and we will say so.
How it works at ReMed
After the consultation, and only if the OAT fits the question, we quote the exact cost (labs differ; the test is not Medicare-rebated) and the kit is posted to your home anywhere in Australia. Collection is a first-morning urine sample following the kit instructions, sent directly to the laboratory. The report comes back to a results consultation, online or in clinic, where the patterns are explained in plain language and translated into next steps. Consultation fees are on the fees page.
A complex picture with no tidy box?
That is the OAT's home ground, and the consultation is where we work out whether it would genuinely move things forward for your child.
The organic acids test: questions parents ask
Organic acids are metabolic by-products that the body clears through urine, so a urine sample is where they are measurable. The practical bonus for families is real: 1 first-morning sample collected at home, no needles, no collection-centre visit.
The kit lists simple preparation, mostly about avoiding certain foods (such as some fruits) in the day before collection so they don't skew the markers. We walk you through it before the kit arrives, and it is far less fiddly than it sounds.
No. It is a privately billed functional test, which is why we quote the exact cost before anything is ordered and only recommend it when the breadth of the snapshot genuinely suits the question. Consultation fees are separate and listed on our fees page.
No, and any page that says otherwise is overreaching. OAT markers are indirect: they point to patterns worth investigating, which we then weigh against your child's history and, where needed, more specific testing or referral back to your GP.
Yes. The kit is posted to your home anywhere in Australia, the sample is collected at home following the instructions, and the results consultation happens by telehealth.
Where this pathway leads