If you are a female or male suffering from exhaustion, sleep problems or hot flashes you may want to consider having your hormone levels tested. These symptoms are only a few of many that may be signs of female menopause or male andropause. If your day-to-day activities are being disrupted by these symptoms saliva testing may be right for you.
Hormones have been measured in saliva for over thirty years, and research continues to accumulate attesting to its reliability and clinical relevance. Saliva testing is considered the “Gold Standard” when determining a person’s hormone levels. Hormones travel from the blood into the saliva by passing through the salivary gland tissue. This means that saliva hormone levels measure the actual delivery of hormones into the tissue, where the hormones exert their effects. In contrast, blood tests measure the amount of hormone that might eventually get into tissue. Therefore, saliva hormone levels better reflect tissue (or bio-available) hormone levels than blood levels do. The following hormones are tested in a basic female panel: estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and cortisol. The basic male panel tests for: estradiol, testosterone, DHEA and cortisol. If stress is a likely contributor to your symptoms, cortisol can be tested at a few points (2 or 4) throughout the day to see if you are suffering from lack of or excess cortisol secretion. Cortisol is produced by the adrenal glands in an effort to help various organ systems adapt to the stresses of an injury or surgery; chronic disease; that stress filled exam taking episode or the stress of going out in the cold during that first cold snap of the winter.
Saliva testing is easy and pain free. Simply purchase a test from our pharmacy, complete the test at home and place it in the mail (to be sent to Rocky Mountain Analytical Labs). The results of the test are returned to our pharmacy in 1-2 weeks. Once we receive the results we contact you to set up a consultation appointment with one of our pharmacists or we can send the results to your physician. You will also receive your own copy of the results. If you have questions about saliva testing, come in to the store and speak with one of our pharmacists today!
