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By Dr Allison Smith, ZRT Laboratory The testicles of a man in his 20s are known to contribute about 5-10mg of testosterone per 24-hour day and levels of total testosterone in the venous blood with that amount are observed to yield roughly 300-1200 ng/dL in the morning at the diurnal peak. Testosterone, whether endogenous or given exogenously, negatively feeds back on the hypothalamus, limiting GnRH and thus LH and FSH from the pituitary. A man taking supraphysiological doses of testosterone can expect to have very low or undetectable levels of LH and FSH in the serum. What happens when the...

  Single nucleotide variations (SNVs – formerly single nucleotide polymorphisms, SNPs) are the most common genetic variations in individuals. Research shows that some SNVs can help predict an individual’s risk of developing certain diseases, such as breast cancer. Although future studies are necessary to further characterize the involvement of SNVs in the etiology of breast cancer, this blog will review up to date literature of what science has discovered so far regarding SNVs within the steroid metabolism pathway and their relationship to breast cancer. First things first – a crash course in genetics. To make an enzyme, just as for...

Hormone Health Educator Candace Burch hosted an informational webinar explaining how hormones affect our weight - specifically, how they inhibit our ability to lose weight and keep the pounds off. During the webinar, we received many great questions from the audience and Candace has answered them below. I've reduced my stress and eat well, but still have high cortisol levels. What else can I do? It sounds like you are making progress in reducing your stress and eating well, but as someone once said - "it's not always what you're eating, but what's eating you that is the real problem."...

By Dr. Kate Placzek ZRT Laboratory Urine is rapidly becoming the preferred medium for neurotransmitter testing to ensure objective neurobiological assessment. This is because a) urine is the primary route of peripherally-produced neurotransmitter elimination; and b) it is non-invasive and cost-effective. This blog takes a look at how dried urine testing provides a superior advantage over standard liquid urine collection methods. Is a 24-hour collection necessary – or even desirable? The gold standard of neurotransmitter testing in urine involves an inconvenient and mildly embarrassing collection of liquid urine over a period of 24 hours into a jug. The awkwardness of...

By Candace Burch, ZRT Laboratory If you cannot figure out why you are gaining weight or can no longer shed pounds easily like you used to – despite your best efforts to eat right, exercise, and take your vitamins every morning– you might be walking around with a hormone imbalance that has you hardwired to put on pounds. Even when we think we’re being healthy, hormonal triggers to unwanted weight gain are too often neglected or overlooked. Testing can help you find the answer. But in the meantime, let’s boil this down to the collective wisdom on eight big culprits...