Why DUTCH Hormone urine Testing can be helpful if you struggle with with losing weight, daily fatigue, irregular cycles, low mood or irritability, Depression.? In traditional medicine, blood has been the “go to” test for hormone testing. Unfortunately, blood testing alone misses much of story plot behind hormone imbalances. This is where DUTCH urine test fills in the gaps. At DrHagmeyer.com we take a more Functional and comprehensive approach to hormone imbalances. In Functional medicine, not only is blood used, but so is saliva and urine. By looking at hormones in different specimens we are able to get the most accurate picture into the imbalances we so often encounter with our patients.

The Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones or simply called the DUTCH test is now available at DrHagmeyer.com

The metabolites that we measure in DUTCH urine test are important to know because they tell us so much about our health. For example; specific estrogen metabolites have been associated with an increase in breast cancer risk, while others have been deemed protective.

Discovering how our bodies break down these hormones is extremely helpful in determining why symptoms are occurring, how to treat them and how to rebalance the body’s natural release of hormones. Only a DUTCH urine test can provide this information. Think about it like this…If blood represents how much money you have in the bank, Saliva represents how much you can take out and a DUTCH urine test represents how much you have spent. By looking at hormone from this perspective, we have a tremendous advantage to correcting hormonal imbalances.

DUTCH testing is very simple to do, highly accurate and best of all it can be done from home.

What Hormones Are Tested With a DUTCH Test:

In the DUTCH test the following hormones are evaluated:

• Total metabolized cortisol – this shows you how much cortisol your body is making over the entire day and can be very different to the free cortisol level. The amount of cortisol you are producing will help to guide your treatment plan.
• Total cortisone – tells us how quickly your body is deactivating cortisol to cortisone.
• Free cortisol – this shows you the active levels of cortisol in your body, the level and rhythm of free cortisol will help to guide your treatment plan. Seeing how cortisol is released is an important step in treating anxiety, mood changes and weight gain.
• Free cortisone – plus the metabolites of cortisone to show how quickly cortisol is getting deactivated to cortisone, this will help to guide us on the best treatment strategy for you.
• Tetrahyrdocortisone – this is a metabolite of cortisone;
• DHEAs – is a precursor to testosterone and estrogen, a high level can indicate PCOS and inflammation, a low level can indicate adrenal insufficiency.
• Testosterone – there is an optimal range for men and women which is associated with vitality and wellbeing, low levels can affect mood, fertility, libido and athletic performance, energy, bone, and muscle development
• Progesterone metabolites – (a-pregnanediol, b-pregnanediol) will indicate your total progesterone levels, these are also precursors to make the neurotransmitter GABA. Low progesterone levels can lead to PMS symptoms and infertility. It is essential to maintaining pregnancy and is a key hormone in many body functions.
• Androgen metabolites of DHEAS and Testosterone – this is important to assess how well your body is processing testosterone, if it is metabolized down the 5a-DHT pathway this can cause hair loss, skin problems, aggression and even increase prostate cancer risk in men.
• Estrogens – which includes estrone, estradiol, estriol, the balance between estrogen and progesterone is important for fertility, PMS and menopausal symptoms, cancer prevention, bone health, menstrual cycle changes, heart function and brain health.
• Estrogen metabolites – these metabolites show how your body is detoxifying estrogen and if this is not done correctly it can increase your risk of breast cancer, prostate cancer, cysts and fibroids.
• 6-OH-melatonin-sulfate – which assesses melatonin production, low melatonin can affect sleep quality making it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep. Melatonin also has antioxidant affects which can help to protect the brain and improve mood.
• Melatonin – When sleep/wake cycles are erratic knowing your melatonin level is invaluable.
• Just added to the DUTCH test are markers for neurotransmitters, B12, B6 and glutathione.

That’s a lot of Hormones! Why Measure All of Them?

Hormones are a family and when one dysfunctions, we often see multiple areas downstream that are also affected. By evaluating all  of these hormones, we get a clearer picture of the imbalances happening inside your body and how to best support your body for optimal balance. It’s about understanding the pathways and why certain hormones are might be excessive and why some might be deficient.

• If you have “adrenal fatigue,” sleep or stress issues, testing your adrenal hormones and their rhythms gives specific information about how to handle these problems.  We are specifically looking at your adrenal-brain communication, known as your HPA axis (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal).
• With fertility problems, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), fibroids, PMS, irregular periods, painful periods, anxiety and moodiness, and endometriosis, this test is highly beneficial. It gives a complete picture of how adrenal and reproductive hormone imbalances contribute to these problems.
• If you use hormone replacement therapy, you want to monitor your levels. This test works uniquely well for oral progesterone, vaginal hormones, patches, pellets and injections. Note that this is only for hormone replacement therapy, not hormonal birth control pills!
• With sleep problems, it’s important to check melatonin. Melatonin can be low and related to your sleep problems, or it can be normal.
• You may have low DHEA levels. This is a “feel-good” hormone produced by your adrenal glands. When it’s low, it can cause fatigue, a decrease in muscle mass or bone density, depression, aching joints, loss of libido, and lowered immunity.
• You may have “estrogen dominance.”This is when the scales are tipped so that progesterone is low and estrogen is high. Estrogen dominance can be a factor in endometriosis, PMS, painful periods, fibrous breasts, fibroids, tender breasts, moodiness, and more. It can make perimenopause symptoms significantly worse.
• This test shows how you metabolize estrogen through your liver. If you don’t metabolize estrogen well, your risks of estrogen-related cancers such as breast, cervical and uterine cancer can increase.

The Dutch Test is best for woman who suffer with;

How to get tested:

When you order your DUTCH test – you’ll receive your kit with easy to follow instructions that you can https://drhagmeyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/pexels-karolina-grabowska-5904094-1.pngister in the privacy of your own home. DUTCH testing uses a special litmus paper to collect your urine samples. once you have collected 4-5 samples, they will need to dry overnight. Once Dried they are ready to be shipped back to the lab for processing. Its that simple!