A common experience that we hear from female patients is that requests for their doctor to run their hormone levels are frequently denied or deemed unnecessary. Many of these women instinctively know something is “off” with their health- whether it be hair loss, bothersome symptoms before menses, inability to get pregnant, or hot flashes. The reality is hormone testing is available, only few MDs are knowledgeable of it. If you are fortunate, you may get a serum blood test from a conventional doctor however these tests have their limitations.
Serum hormone testing (a blood test) tells us how much hormone is in the body at the time of the lab being drawn. Once our bodies create hormones, eventually we have to excrete or detoxify those hormones. This is referred to as the metabolism of our hormones. It is the other side of the coin of understanding our full hormonal picture as women. We must produce enough hormones, but we also must efficiently metabolize our hormones. It’s like filling up a bucket with water- if we cannot pour out the bucket, it will start to overflow. Many women are not efficient metabolizers. This is what serum testing misses.
DUTCH testing is offered by Precision Analytical and is a comprehensive functional hormone assessment. Functional health means optimal health, and many people deal with symptoms of suboptimal health that don’t necessarily fit in a black-and-white framework of medical diagnosis. Diseases are spectrums, and conventional medical providers and testing are only investigating one end of the spectrum.
An added benefit of DUTCH testing is that cortisol levels are included. Cortisol is secreted by two walnut sized glands that sit above the kidneys called the adrenal glands. Cortisol should be highest in the morning shortly after waking and then decrease throughout the day to be lowest at night. Cortisol fuels energy levels and is integral to the circadian rhythm. Sleep and energy issues (an extremely common issue for women!) merit investigation of cortisol levels.
The DUTCH test includes organic acid markers. These are not strictly related to hormones but do offer interesting information about other realms of health, including neurotransmitters for mental health, vitamin markers, and inflammation markers. Inflammation is a natural response to cellular or tissue injury. The wear-and-tear of living is natural and inevitable, so inflammation cannot be completely avoided, however, we can slow the aging process and development of chronic diseases by testing our levels and then working on a plan with your integrative provider or Natuopath on how to reduce the inflammatory burden. Inflammation is a key concept to be aware of when striving towards optimal health and aging for women.
DUTCH testing is a remarkable piece of technology for understanding your hormonal health through-and-through. Who is not a candidate for DUTCH testing? Nobody is not a candidate per se, however, it can have limited usefulness when evaluating hormones in perimenopause because hormone levels fluctuate so rapidly during this period of time. A one-day collection might catch hormone levels at a peak or a trough which tells little about the full picture. Fortunately, DUTCH offers a Cycle Mapping test that observes an entire month of hormone activity for these women.