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Bioidentical Saliva Hormone Testing Saliva Testing Predicting Ovulation The Basics of Saliva Hormone Testing Should You Test Bioidentical Hormones? Saliva Cortisol Hormone Testing Bioidentical Saliva Hormone TestingSubmitted August 29, 2006 4:42pm Saliva Testing Predicting OvulationBefore a woman is about to ovulate, her saliva begins to form a distinct fern-like pattern, which is determined when viewed under a microscope. This change is due to an increase in the level of estrogen that is present, which in turn causes an increase in salinity. Salinity is what produces the fern-like appearance under the microscope. This ferning pattern begins to appear around 3 days prior to ovulation. A “personal ovulation microscope” (e.g. Fertile Focus or Ovulook) allow you to predict fertility by observing the visual changes that take place in your saliva throughout your cycle. When you are on the verge of ovulation, the visible make-up of a woman's saliva undergoes several changes. This fern-like or ferning pattern can be easily identified when examined under the power of a 40X to 60X magnification lens - helping you predict ovulation and peak fertility. How Do Saliva Ovulation Predictors Work? With the ovulation microscopes, you simply apply saliva to a slide and wait five minutes. The slide is then inserted into the magnifying scope, allowing you to determine if the fern-like pattern is present and then predict ovulation. This ferning pattern can be easily identified when examined under the power of the microscope, helping you predict fertile or infertile times in your cycle. According to research studies, saliva ovulation predictor tests are 98% accurate in clinical settings when all instructions are followed correctly. Other advantages of saliva ovulation predictors stem from the fact that they are re-usable, discreet, and easy-to-use. The Basics on Saliva Hormone TestingSaliva originates from the salivary glands, which are located under the tongue and along the sides of the mouth. Saliva is made up of a complex mixture of mucins, enzymes, antibodies, electrolytes, and hormones, all of which play a part in the beginning process of digestion and protect the oral mucosa. The formation of saliva in the salivary ducts begins with electrolytes (particularly sodium) being actively pumped into the ducts by an energy dependent process. Water then diffuses by osmosis into the duct to reestablish a physiological osmolality. Blood components enter the watery fluid of the salivary duct by one of three processes: active transport, ultra-filtration or passive diffusion. Antibodies such as IgA and IgG are actively secreted into saliva by an energy dependent process. Small charged molecules like glucose enter saliva by ultra-filtration, the rate of entry of which is inversely related to molecular size. Steroids and other small neutral molecules not bound by blood proteins freely pass through the membranes of the salivary gland into saliva by passive diffusion. The Passage of neutral steroids from the blood into the salivary ducts is about 10 times faster than the flow rate of saliva. Because of the rapid passive diffusion of steroids into the saliva ducts, saliva hormone levels are not altered significantly when the flow of saliva is increased with stimulants such as chewing gum. However, when a steroid is rendered more polar by metabolic conjugation (eg, sulfation, glycosylation) its rate of flow into saliva is significantly slower resulting in lower concentrations of the conjugated steroid as the saliva flow rate increases with use of stimulants. Because only a small fraction of steroids in blood are considered bio-available, saliva, which has many free, or bio-available steroids, is considered to be the best method of measuring hormones. In blood, 95-99% of the steroids are bound up by binding proteins such as sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), cortisol binding globulin (CBG), and albumin. The small fraction of steroids not bound is considered the free fraction, or that which is bio-available as blood percolates through the capillary beds of tissues. The free or bio-available fraction of steroids in blood enters the salivary gland and the salivary duct by passive diffusion just as they enter other tissues of the body. Hence, saliva provides a convenient diagnostic fluid from which to monitor, non-invasively, the bio-available fraction of steroid hormones circulating in the bloodstream and entering tissues. "Rule-of-thumb"--saliva hormones represent 1-5% of serum. When steroid hormones are produced endogenously or are taken orally the salivary level of any particular steroid generally ranges from about 1-5% of the levels found in serum. The exception to this "rule-of-thumb" is when steroid hormones are delivered topically through the skin, where salivary hormones often exceed levels measured in serum. Saliva Laboratory Testing: The Advantages and Disadvantages There are numerous advantages to using saliva to test for steroid hormones compared to blood serum or plasma. But there are also disadvantages. Advantages:
Disadvantages:
Bioidentical Hormone TestingSubmitted September 2, 2006 11:24 am Saliva hormone testing allows you to measure your levels of the hormones estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone. Comparing your female hormone levels to the normal range of hormones for your age will help you and your doctor evaluate how bioidentical hormone replacement therapy will or has changed your hormone levels. About Hormone TestingAugust 25, 2006 There are several tests done to detect if you are going through early menopause. Your doctor can perform these tests if you suspect that you are experiencing symptoms of perimenopause. Some of these include: FSH -follicle stimulating hormone A blood test can be done to determine the levels of FSH in your blood. Because your FSH levels rise when your ovaries stop producing enough estrogen, high FSH levels can signal that your body is entering menopause. This is the key test to determine your stage of menopause. Normal Menstruating Follicular Phase 2.5 to 10.2 Midcycle Peak 3.4 to 33.4 Luteal Phase 1.5 to 9.1 Postmenopausal 23.0 to >116.3 Estrogen (Estradiol) Levels If your estradiol levels are lower than 50 picograms per milliliter, you may still be having a period, but also may be experiencing symptoms of low estrogen. Non-menopausal: Follicular Phase 24-138 Luteal Phase 19-164 Periovulatory 107-402
Postmenopausal: No HRT <36 With HRT 18-361 Another test is a thyroid test. Many doctors will also recommend that you have your thyroid tested when you suspect menopause. This is for two reasons: First, many women in premature menopause also are at a higher risk for thyroid problems. Second, many symptoms of thyroid disease overlap with menopausal symptoms. In fact, thyroid diseases often interfere with menstruation. Testing your thyroid will help determine whether you are in premature menopause, or if you have a thyroid disease. Last, is a saliva test. Some doctors recommend saliva testing to measure hormone levels. This isn't as widely used as blood testing, but some say that it is quicker, less expensive and reliable. With salivary testing, your doctor takes samples of your saliva to see the levels of hormones you are producing and to determine if you have any deficiencies. Unlike the blood tests, the saliva hormone tests will show the levels of "free" hormones in your body. Free hormones are the hormones that aren't bound to proteins, but instead are able to move into cells. Because about 95% or more of your blood hormones are bound, the saliva tests measure only the remaining 1 to 5%. The results may be much lower than that which you see on your blood test results. Should You Test for Bioidentical Hormones Or Not?September 1, 2006Some people believe that with all the new information we have about bioidentical hormones and its advantages that the testing should be standard routine. But there are several factors why it's not. First, it is not "standard of care" or deemed medically necessary. This means that when you have a problem that may be related to your cycle and the hormone fluctuations that go with it, your doctor is not required to order a test to measure your hormone levels before you are treated. Actually, they can prescribe birth control pills or synthetic HRT at any time, with only personal information or a feeling that these drugs may be right for you. The reasons why hormone testing, and prescribing natural hormones, is not standard practice has more to do with patent law and the pharmaceutical industry than anything else. There is also the fact that most medical schools have until recently ignored natural hormones as an option in treating women's hormonal imbalances. Drug companies are out to make money. Natural, plant-based hormones cannot be patented and marketed as exclusive products, therefore giving no advantage to the pharmaceutical companies. Even though safe, plant-based sources for making bioidentical natural progesterone and estrogen are readily available, pharmaceutical companies rarely use them (although the harm and findings of new studies about synthetic hormones is beginning to propel them in that direction). Instead they use lab-formulated synthetic progestins and estrogens to make their HRT formulas. When sales representatives talk with doctors, they offer flashy brochures and literature about double-blind studies conducted and/or financed, of course, by the drug companies. For some drugs, such as Viagra, manufacturers appeal directly to consumers, who in turn request that their healthcare providers prescribe these drugs. Nobody is advertising for the use of natural hormones to medical offices because, at least for now, there is no money to be made. In fact, mainstream healthcare providers who are familiar enough with natural hormones to prescribe seem to be in the minority. So it is no surprise that mainstream medical practitioners are reluctant to initiate hormone testing to determine dosing for medicines they know little or nothing about. The same goes for natural supplements and herbal remedies. These alternatives have neither private funding nor representatives hounding medical offices to tout their benefits. If medical providers want to find out about these alternatives, they must do just as you are doing, and educate themselves. Given their hectic schedules, time constraints, and demanding practices, it isn't too surprising that most healthcare practitioners haven't done so. Most likely, the use of bioidentical hormones will eventually come into use because patients are going to demand it, many are already. Women are justifiably scared of synthetic HRT, and more information is getting out that therapy using natural, bioidentical hormones is a safe and effective alternative for relieving unpleasant symptoms. Medical practitioners who lack education about hormone testing and treatment with the natural alternatives nevertheless claim that hormone testing is inaccurate because levels change constantly as a woman cycles through the month. It's true that hormone levels do fluctuate and every woman is unique, but those facts don't cancel the value and accuracy of carefully conducted hormone testing, especially through saliva testing. It is being done successfully and has been absolutely invaluable in my medical practice and those of informed colleagues across the nation. Saliva Cortisol Test September 5, 2006 |
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