What is the benefit of saliva hormone testing?
Testing hormones through the saliva is an easy, non-invasive
way of assessing hormone levels. For
certain hormones, it has been shown to be a more accurate method of addressing
hormone imbalance.
Who would benefit from hormone testing?
- Anyone
who has experienced chronic, long term stress or short periods of intense
stress
- Women
who suffer from irregular periods
- Women
who experience PMS
- Peri
or post menopausal women who are concerned with an estrogen/progesterone
imbalance
- Men
and women who are concerned with changing hormone levels as a result of
age
- Anyone
experiencing the following symptoms:
weight problems, insomnia, fatigue, acne, blood sugar imbalance and
decrease immune function
Which hormones can be tested?
- Estrogen
– is the main female hormone and if imbalanced it can contribute to
menstrual disruption in cycling women, unpleasant symptoms for menopausal
women and possibly cause certain female cancers.
- Progesterone
– is required to balance estrogen levels
- Testosterone
– is a hormone that is essential for both men and women
- DHEA
– is needed for energy production and blood sugar balance and is required
to produce other hormones such as testosterone.
- Cortisol
– this hormone level changes throughout the day and it is necessary for
stress management, blood sugar metabolism, energy production and
anti-inflammatory effects.
What is the process?
If you are doing the complete hormone assessment and you are
a cycling female, then the test needs to be done at a certain time of the
month. Your naturopath can discuss with
you when the right time would be.
Otherwise, the saliva collection is done any day, and 4 saliva tests are
required – first thing in the morning, mid day, mid afternoon and evening.
