Dr. Sarah Roth speaks to the Dutch Test:
Most of us tacitly understand that hormones do a lot, and they take the blame for many of the highs and lows of life.
For men, testosterone levels dramatically affect mood, motivation, sexual function and athletic performance. When too high it can lead to estrogen conversion, yielding fat deposition and breast development, or elevated DHT which can wreak havoc on the prostate tissue leading to urination concerns and reproductive concerns, not to mention acne and hair loss.
For women, the balance of estrogen and progesterone is extremely impactful on the menstrual cycle and so many of the symptoms associated with it, from cramps, heavy flow, PMS, acne, water retention, and over a long period of time endometriosis, cyst development and even reproductive cancers. Whether you’re 30 or 65 there is an optimal range for each of these hormones and symptoms arise when they move outside these ranges. Testosterone also plays a role in sexual health, athletic performance and motivation/zest for life in women. And again can cause menstrual disturbances, acne and hair loss when levels are too high.
And then there’s adrenal health. The infamous cortisol that takes so much blame and is so rarely assessed. Knowing whether your cortisol is following a normal circadian rhythm, whether it is high or low, and how efficiently your body is clearing it out, can provide objective measures of how your body is (or is not) coping with stress. Are we thriving? Are we acutely stressed? Or are we on the path to burnout? Additionally, cortisol and adrenal health greatly impact the balance of our sex hormones mentioned above.
Enter, the Dutch test. This stands for Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones. This is our test of choice for a thorough deep dive into the health of your hormonal system. The test analyzes the metabolic pathways of all these hormones and more: DHEA, testosterone, conversion to DHT, progesterone and its pathway into alpha and beta forms, estrogen in all 3 forms, how efficiently we clear estrogen out through its clearance pathways, whether we are accumulating metabolites of estrogen that can damage DNA and lead to cancerous cell development, melatonin, four points of cortisol throughout the day, how efficiently we clear cortisol through the liver, our conversion to cortisone, and as a bonus a number of organic acids showing adrenaline, dopamine and several other urine markers. Phew!
While that might sound overwhelming, the Dutch test delivers in a very user-friendly manner with clear pathways and dials highlighting deficiencies or abundances of hormones. Plus, we are here to navigate its intricacies with you, figure out where imbalances lie and come up with an action plan for getting them back in balance.
Hormone replacement therapy, birth control pills and other drugs are sometimes the right answer, but they are certainly not the only answers. We can often rebalance hormones naturally, helping you regain the hormonal terrain that makes you feel vital and healthy.
