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Which Test Is Better For Hormones – Urine Or Saliva?

Written by Wellness Club on March 27, 2009 – 11:08 pm -

Many of you know already that one of Dr. Myatt’s areas of specialty is endocrine health and function: hormones and bio-identical hormone replacement. The human endocrine system is an exquisitely complicated and elegant chemical equivalent to the human nervous system – hormones are the chemical messengers for our bodily functions. Indeed, without healthy hormones, even the nervous system cannot function correctly!

While at first glance hormone balance looks like a fairly simple task, it truth it is not – there are too many things that are inter-dependant, and the do-it-yourself approach to correcting and maintaining hormone balance can be like walking blindfolded through a minefield.

We offer hormone testing, and we also offer a very special service where Dr. Myatt will provide an analysis and interpretation of the results of that testing. For this service, Dr. Myatt spends up to an hour (and sometimes more!) consulting with top experts at the testing lab and then provides a written interpretation, report, and recommendations. This allows those who wish to attempt to manage their own hormone health to do so with the benefit of as much knowledge and understanding as possible – to keep them from stepping on any of those "hormonal land-mines" that await the unwary.

Another question we often hear is which is better – blood, saliva, or urine testing for hormone levels?

Will recently wrote to ask:

Dr. Myatt

Why do you recommend urine over saliva for male hormone test?  Dr. John Lee recommends saliva but nothing said about urine. I am 44 and am do bikram yoga 5 times a week eat mostly raw etc. and want to establish a "baseline" marker today and maintain using the bioidentical hormone therapy mode (I think). LEF.ORG has a list of markers that they recommend and yours are somewhat different.  Please advise!  Thanks in advance for your time.

Thank you
Will

It is clear that Will is trying to do things right with his health, and he is correct to be wary of the conflicting information that can be found on the internet. One advantage that we have here at the Wellness Club is that Dr. Myatt’s knowledge is cutting-edge and very up-to-date.

Here is Dr. Myatt’s response to Will:

Hi Will:

Sex hormones are released in "bursts" throughout a 24-hour period. Obviously, a blood test will be the least accurate. Saliva is next best for a baseline, but hormones are not always consistently concentrated in saliva in a way the is truly representative of the 24-hour average. Urine is the most accurate, because it factors in the "bursts" and tells us the true 24-hour average.

The urine test was not available back when Dr. Lee started making recommendations about testing. I have used all three tests over the years and believe solidly in the value of the 24-hour urine.

The Comp Plus urine test also gives much more information than just the sex hormones because it tells us "intermediates" (as one thing is converted to another), plus HGH, adrenal hormones and ratios of sex hormones that are known to be markers (preventive) for hormone-related cancers. This information gives a much more complete picture than just the sex hormones alone.

I recommend you spend the extra dollars and get the "state-of-the-art" 24 hour urine test. That way, you’ll have an excellent baseline to refer back to.

In Health,
Dr. Myatt

P.S. Here’s the link to my medical test page so you can read more about these tests. I still offer saliva hormone testing but feel it if far inferior to urine. http://www.drmyattswellnessclub.com/medicaltests.htm#CompPlus

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Posted in Health Questions, Hormones, Man Health, Senior Health, Sexual Health, Women's Health | Comments Off