Hormone Saliva Test

Dr. John Lee Explains Hormone Saliva Tests  

The usual way to test hormone levels has been with a blood test that measures the blood serum or blood plasma content of the hormones. The tests have been somewhat unreliable because they do not give your biologically active hormone levels and progesterone creams take weeks to show up in serum in spite of the fact that they begin having an effect within hours of being used.

The hormones made in ovaries, testes and the adrenals are wrapped in protein envelopes called either sex hormone-binding globulin or cortisol-binding globulin so they can be carried in the blood. They bind to protein to make them more water soluble. These protein bound hormones are not fully biologically active. The more important and relevant hormone levels are the 1 to 10 percent that are unbound and thus biologically active.

Saliva contains only the unbound, biologically ACTIVE hormone molecules.

When progesterone is absorbed through the skin, it is not coated with protein and is carried in the blood’s fatty components, such as chylomicrons or red blood cell membranes. Thus, even though progesterone from skin creams is slow to appear in the serum, it shows up quickly (within hours) in saliva, indicating that is well absorbed and available to cells in biologically active form.

Saliva testing is quicker, less expensive and less painful than blood tests and is a reliable way to measure hormone levels and test for hormone deficiencies. It will confirm that the hormones you are taking are being absorbed and utilized; it doesn’t involve a trip to the lab or drawing blood and it’s inexpensive enough that you can do a number of tests, such as over the course of a few months. It is easily done at home without a doctor’s prescription. Saliva Hormone Assay Tests have been used for 5 years by the World Health Organization for world wide hormone testing.