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Many physicians
prescribe hormones by evaluating your symptoms, your age, your risk factors,
and when you had your last period. Though important aspects of a
comprehensive hormonal strategy, they do not constitute a complete
evaluation. Hormone level testing is necessary for determining whether or
not you need hormones and, if so which ones.
The knowledge that there are steroid hormones in saliva, and
that they can be measured, has been around for more than 30 years. But it is
only recently that technology has caught up with that information making it
possible to accurately determine levels of salivary hormones. Now, with
specific antibodies for key steroid hormones, Nutrivea can be an important
partner in your quest for a longer, healthier and sexier life.
Until recently, steroid hormone level evaluations were
carried out on blood samples, but blood collection has its limitations. It
is invasive, expensive and difficult to time precisely. Perhaps more
importantly, blood hormone levels represent your body's total
hormone content. Most blood hormones (about 95%) are bound to specific
proteins which carry them through your bloodstream and can be considered the
hormone 'storage' fraction. The other 5% represents your free
hormones - those available to move easily into your target organs and
fulfill their functions. Your saliva contains these free
hormones which can be easily measured to give an accurate picture of those
hormones that are readily available to your tissue.
Why Test Saliva For Hormones ?
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With the convenience and privacy of home collection,
saliva hormone testing is non-invasive and economical
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Blood collection is sometimes very stressful while
saliva collection is simple
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Saliva sample collections can be timed precisely
which is critical for some hormones
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Multiple saliva collections can be taken in a single
day to evaluate daily fluctuation
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Saliva testing is an accurate, flexible tool for
adjusting and monitoring hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
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Prepaid mailers containing your saliva specimen can
simply be dropped into your nearest mailbox for delivery.
This convenience
is possible because saliva hormones are stable at room temperature for at
least 3 weeks
Saliva
testing measures the levels of the free, bio-available
hormones - those hormones which move freely into cells and carry out the
bodies' critical jobs
Return to Hormonal Testing
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