Hormone Health Hub: Expert Insights on Testing, Balance & Better Living — mini pill

Interpretation of hormone testing using saliva, dried blood spot, or serum can be tricky when women are using oral, patch, or other hormonal contraception methods. The types of hormones in these contraceptives are synthetic, and although they may be close to the molecular structure of our body’s own oestradiol or progesterone, they are not bioidentical. While bioidentical hormones used as supplements react in the same way as our endogenous hormones to the specific antibodies used during hormone testing, non-bioidentical hormones aren’t recognised by these antibodies so they are not measured by the same test. How Does Hormonal Contraception Affect Test...

Original of this article was published on ZRT Laboratory Blog. On a new Danish study which suggesting that hormonal contraception might increase risk of depression, and that previous studies may not have highlighted this link because they did not include women who stopped taking their birth control as a result of depressive symptoms. Findings from the Study The study did find an association between use of hormonal contraception and the subsequent use of antidepressant medications and diagnosis of depression. The risk of depression with contraceptive use decreased with increasing age, and was highest in the youngest age group studied, namely...