User:Mtaitus/Saliva Hormone Testing

Saliva Hormone Testing is a way of measuring levels of bio-available hormones, also known as free hormones. These are hormones that are unbound, biologically active portions of the bloodstream. Hormone levels in saliva represent the quantity of the hormone that is currently available to target tissues and actively exerting specific effects on the body. Salivary hormone levels relate to specific symptoms of hormone excesses or deficiencies.

Saliva sample testing is becoming the diagnostic data collector of choice in a variety of medical testing. Saliva and other oral fluids contain many of the same proteins and other molecules as blood and urine. Over the past two years, American scientists are turning more to the accuracy of results in saliva sample tests, more than traditional blood and urine tests.

Bio-available Hormones

Hormones can control their own levels through a process called binding, which will render them inactive. When hormones are released into the bloodstream, 90-99% of them will bind to protein, and are considered bound hormones 1. These hormones provide the body with a type of reservoir of hormones, even if they are inactive and cannot bind with receptors to create a response. These hormones are already performing their vital duties. The hormones that do not bind with proteins (the 1-5%), are left as “free hormones”, and are then free to bind with the body's receptors and immediately begin working with the body 2.

Hormones That Can Be Tested Via Saliva Testing

Estradiol (E2) Estriol (E3) Estrone (E1) Progesterone (Pg) Testosterone (T) DHEA-S Androstenedione Cortisol (Adrenal function) 3.

How Saliva Testing Helps Physicians

Saliva testing can help identify specific hormone imbalances associated with specific symptoms in patients. It can also determine hormone imbalances prior to the appearance of symptoms or disease. Testing can help establish hormone baselines prior to beginning therapy and monitor hormone levels while supplementing, allowing for individualized hormone dosing.

Hormonal Changes Evident In Saliva

When a hormonal change occurs, it can affect the body in many ways. It can show evidence of fertility, but it can also show evidence of hormonal imbalance. Some of the symptoms of a hormonal imbalance include: • Breast tenderness • Irregular periods • Vaginal dryness • Night sweats • Declining libido • Acne • Headaches • Hair loss or hair growth in unwanted areas • Anxiety • Water retention • Increased body temp

Advantages of Saliva Testing

• Saliva can give a better reading of hormones that have been absorbed into the tissue. • Testing is more economical than conventional serum testing • Testing is accurate because of the lower degree of interference or tampering of the sample. • Saliva testing is non-invasive and convenient with the convenience and privacy of home collection. • Saliva collection is easier than blood collection, because it usually involves a swab of the fluids in the mouth. • Saliva sample collections can be timed for critical hormone activity, such as cortisol, which must be measured at specific times of the day or night • Cortisol levels are unaffected by saliva collection • Multiple collections can be taken in a single day to evaluate fluctuation. • Saliva testing is an accurate, flexible tool for adjusting and monitoring hormone replacement therapy (HRT). • Hormone levels can be assessed during topical hormone supplementation • Saliva samples are stable at room temperature for up to 2 weeks, allowing for shipment and convenient mailing of samples for testing • Saliva tests can often provide faster results, e.g., for HIV, which provides results in about 20 minutes, versus waiting days or weeks in the past. • Saliva tests can reduce transmission of HIV to health-care workers, because there is no risk of handling blood. • Saliva testing’s noninvasiveness and rapid results could lead to increased screening • The ease and rapid results could make the test valuable in developing countries with a widespread need for testing.

Disadvantages of Saliva Testing

Hormonal supplements via drops, spray, or lozenges may not be as accurate because they affect the saliva glands 4. Many insurance companies will not cover the cost of saliva testing. And it’s inconvenient because not all labs carry this form of testing.

Uses For Saliva Hormone Testing

It is widely known that saliva can reveal use of alcohol and drugs. Drug tests can determine the presence of cocaine, marijuana, opiates/heroin, amphetamine, methamphetamine, phencyclidine, and benzodiazepines. It can determine the levels of various drugs, heavy metals, steroid hormones like progesterone, estradiol, and testosterone etc. Philips has developed a mobile on-the-go drug test, similar to a Breathalyzer, that can be used to test suspected users of cocaine, heroin, cannabis, amphetamines and methamphetamine 5.

A saliva test can also uncover various biochemical imbalances that can be underlying chronic stress, fatigue, anxiety, obesity, depression, and many other chronic conditions. Currently, diagnostic tests for diseases and conditions as (HIV), hypogonadism, measles, hepatitis, certain cancers, stress and menopause are used with dependable accuracy. Scientists are close to developing a saliva test for monitoring Type 2 Diabetes. 6. Scientists have found that human saliva carries markers of breast cancer. 7. A saliva test might also help healthcare practitioners detect some forms of autism. 8. All of these discoveries could potentially lead to early treatments for patients.

Research has been done on a saliva test to detect a person's immune response to the anthrax vaccine, in the event of a bio-terror attack, which would help emergency workers rapidly determine who has been immunized or not without having to access their medical records.

Saliva tests may not replace blood or urine tests for all diagnostic uses but they could prove beneficial in detecting diseases where early diagnosis is critical, such as with certain cancers.

Saliva Testing For Ovulation Prediction

In 1969, Spanish gynecologist Biel Cassals discovered that saliva crystallization during hormonal changes could indicate imminent ovulation in women with a high degree of accuracy.

OvumOptics, Inc. leverages this scientific knowledge with its Ovu-Trac® Ovulation Predictor Kit. The kit can help women who are trying to conceive by utilizing the science of saliva crystallization to determine the timing of ovulation. With the kit, women can save the results from previous testing and determine patterns, which is particularly helpful for women who have irregular cycles.

Saliva Home Test Kits

Blood samples are usually collected by a licensed phlebomotist. However, it can also be performed at home. Home saliva test kits are available for home use where samples are sent in to labs for evaluation. The kits are equipped with a sponge, which is used to rub the inside of the cheek to collect a saliva sample. In some kits, a plastic stick with a pad on the end is used to swab or rub against the patient's gums to gather saliva. Other tests work by simply inserting a foam pad on a stick into the person's mouth, having the person pucker his or her lips, and moving the pad slightly around for a period of time until enough saliva fluid has been gathered. Other tests require a patient to spit directly into a collecting container.

The collected saliva then is exposed to a reagent, a chemical substance that is known to react a certain way, to indicate a positive result or measures ranges. Results can be obtain in less than 20 minutes. Other samples may be collected at home, mailed to a laboratory, but may take longer to be analyzed and reported back.

Hindrances of Saliva Home Testing

A person with a condition, such as Sjögren's syndrome, which causes dry mouth and poor saliva production, may not be a candidate for saliva sample testing. Certain medications can also cause a dry mouth. At-home ovulation saliva test kits should not be used to prevent pregnancy. Smoking, eating, drinking, and brushing the teeth can affect test results. Additionally, the manner in which a person puts saliva on the slide can affect results.

It is best to check with a registered alternative medicine practitioner or licensed physician before paying for at-home saliva tests for this purpose. Some saliva sample tests will be completed at medical offices or sent to laboratory facilities. Those done at home should be completed with kits approved by the FDA or by a professional healthcare provider.

The Future of Saliva Testing

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed a "prototype camera-phone mounted with a microscope" that can "magnify and photograph blood or saliva samples" for diagnosing diseases. The prototype, called CellScope, would enable "disease screening and diagnosis in the field where specialized clinical microscopy laboratories aren't available, including in underdeveloped countries." 9.

In the future, saliva may be used to predict the number of cavities in a person's teeth and even where in the mouth the cavities will develop. Research by the University of Southern California has determined that saliva can show how vulnerable a patient is to cavities. The test detects saliva proteins that have special sugars that bind to the surfaces of microbes. Various combinations seem to make people more or less prone to cavities.

Latest research suggests that biomarkers of various cardio-vascular complications and inflammation markers can also be detected using the saliva samples on nano-bio chips. For example, early diagnosis of a heart attack can be determined with a few drops of saliva and a new nano-bio-chip 10. The nano-bio-chip is the size of a credit card and can produce results in as little as 15 minutes. In the future, this nano-bio-chip assay could be used to analyze a patient's saliva on board an ambulance, at the dentist's office or at a neighborhood drugstore. Early detection could help save lives and prevent damage from cardiac disease.

External links

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