Hormones Comprehensive Plus Panel

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The Importance of Understanding Hormone and Bodily Changes

Why Analyze Female Sex Hormones?
Hormonal changes orchestrate the process leading to the beginning of menstruation. There are two phases during a woman’s menstrual cycle, the first phase is considered the estrogen-dominant phase (prior to ovulation), and the second phase is progesterone-dominant (post-ovulation). The monthly shifts between estrogen to progesterone are crucial to a woman’s health.

Women normally produce small amounts of testosterone. This “male” hormone helps women stay strong, fit and sexually active, and may have protective effect against breast cancer and cardiovascular disease. DHEA is the precursor to both female and male sex hormones and is released with cortisol under stress conditions. Measuring hormone levels is an important proactive step in health maintenance.

How do Stress Hormones Affect Your Body?
Stress comes in many forms: mental, physiological, and environmental, but all forms of stress can generate a physiological response. The capacity to handle daily stress is influenced by factors that strain body systems, such as: allergies, environmental pollutants, infections, sleep deprivation, and mental illnesses. Physical and emotional stress cause cortisol and DHEA release from adrenal glands. Cortisol helps the body respond to stress by increasing glucose metabolism for quick energy, decreasing immune response and stimulating a cascade of other hormones. DHEA heightens your awareness and memory retrieval while decreasing emotional response. The stress response is overall beneficial in handling immediate challenges. However, it is not healthy to be in a constant “fight or flight” which contributes to accelerated aging.

Benefits of Analyzing Hormones Through Saliva
Testing through saliva is an easy, non-invasive and accurate way to provide a good “snapshot” of hormone production throughout the day. The hormone present in the saliva is the active hormone that is available for bodily use. This allows healthcare providers to create an optimal hormone balancing plan.