Hormones are in a continuous flow through our bodies, responsible for almost every organ, cell and bodily function, from birth until the end of life. The main hormone production glands within this system, known as the endocrine system, are the reproductive organs, the pancreas, the thyroid, the adrenals, and the pituitary/pineal/hypothalamus in the brain (1). Due to this extensive distribution, it’s easy to see how these hormones play such a vital role in our health, sent via the bloodstream to the various tissues in the body.
The important thing to understand is that all of these glands are interconnected, thus creating a network of feedback and fluctuation in hormone levels. So when there’s an imbalance in one organ, it will invariably affect other aspects of your health that you may not realise are connected. An example of this is when a person is suffering from considerable stress, which affects our adrenal output, which may, in turn, affect your reproductive organs and/or thyroid function (2).
By testing for hormone levels gives a wonderful insight into what’s actually happening currently in your body, and gives the practitioner and yourself a deeper understanding of your health, and ultimately results in quicker resolution and relief of symptoms. One such test, known to be the most comprehensive and advanced hormone test available to practitioners, is the DUTCH test, analysing 35 different hormones, which include reproductive hormones, DHEA and cortisol, as well as oxidative stress markers, amongst others3. This test is a urine test, which shows increased accuracy over the standard blood and saliva testing (4).
So when might you need to do a DUTCH test? Below are just some examples of conditions that would greatly benefit from deeper insight and knowledge specific to your hormones:
- Menopause
- HRT
- PMS
- Painful and/or heavy menses
- Irregular menses
- Infertility
- Chronic stress
- Disturbed sleep patterns
The test shows all the various metabolites of oestrogen, some of which are beneficial to us, and others, which are highly toxic in high doses. This knowledge gives you an assurance that you are not poisoning your body with potentially toxic metabolites of hormones, and also the possibility to clear them from the body with treatment from your practitioner, should they be present. This is a very important step in the overall hormonal health of patients, often overlooked.
Much research has been done over the past 20-30 years to deepen our understanding of oestrogens and their metabolites, and the risk of breast cancer, as well as other oestrogen sensitive cancers. The scientific acceptance is that high levels of 4-catechol oestrogens, and the ratio between them and other metabolites, are strongly associated with the increased risk of breast cancer (5). It is also essential to establish if your body is methylating adequately, which helps in the elimination of these substances from the body, which is discussed as part of your naturopathic consultation. Additionally, your oestrogen levels are dependent on whether you are pre or post-menopausal.
In addition to the above, it is equally interesting to establish if you have any genetic mutations, such as COMT. If methylation does not occur due to lack of defective gene polymorphisms in COMT, the catechol estrogens can further oxidize to 2- and 4-estrogen quinones, worsened by trans-hydrogenated fats in the diet, and/or heavy metals, or lack of glutathione, thus increasing the cancer risk in tissues such as the breasts, uterus and ovaries.
So as you can see, doing such a simple test as the DUTCH will give you great peace of mind, or should a problem be found, then the possibility to work through and resolve the health concern in partnership with your naturopath, particularly for women approaching or in the middle of menopause.
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