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

   In the realm of healthcare diagnostics, testing for various hormonal levels holds significant importance in understanding an individual's health. Traditionally, blood testing has been the norm for assessing hormone levels. However, the emergence of saliva testing has brought about a new dimension in evaluating hormones. Saliva testing provides a non-invasive and convenient method for individuals to collect their samples, allowing for a more accurate representation of bioavailable hormones – those readily accessible to target tissues. The Significance of Saliva Testing Saliva testing measures the unbound, bioavailable fraction of hormones, which stands in contrast to blood tests that often reflect...

  By Dr. Alison McAllister, ZRT Laboratory This article tackles some frequent questions providers might have regarding the purpose of the testing and who the ideal patient is. TESTING SPECIFICS Why urine testing instead of saliva? Saliva testing is what ZRT was founded on, and we have tested over 1.8 million individuals at this point. We are celebrating 20 years of hormone testing this year! Hurray! We love saliva testing. But, what we don’t love is having you collect every other day for 15 samples. Urine testing has the benefit of a super easy collection – wake up and pee on...

By Dr. Tracy Tranchitella, ND (ZRT Laboratory) For anyone who has dealt with issues that are related to chronic fatigue has likely evaluated their hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis performance through a multi-point salivary test. The hormone Cortisol is measured in saliva when the samples are collected through predetermined intervals throughout a single day reveal one’s physiological resilience and metabolic reserve in response to daily stressors. HPA axis testing is a mainstay in the world of integrative, naturopathic, and functional medicine. For the past 2 years, the world has existed under the constant shadow of COVID-19. To say that we have been “stressed” is an...

Your body's stress response is controlled by three key chemical mediators: norepinephrine, epinephrine, and cortisol. When these become dysregulated — through chronic stress, allostatic overload, or HPA axis dysfunction — the consequences extend far beyond fatigue. This article explains how the stress response works, what happens when it can't self-regulate, and how hormone and neurotransmitter testing can reveal the specific imbalances driving your symptoms.

By Tracy Tranchitella, ND ZRT Laboratory SARS-CoV-2 has been circulating in the global population for over a year. According to Worldometer, at the time of this writing on March 2, 2021, 115 million people have been infected with the virus, 2.5 million have died, and 90 million have survived the infection to go on to have possible immunity. The immune response to the virus can range from asymptomatic to severe illness and death and has aroused fear and uncertainty around the world. For those who have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 and survived, some experience prolonged symptoms beyond recovery from the acute illness....