Is Your Cortisol Level Under Control?
Fight or flight. We’re sure you’ve heard of it, and that you know it’s your body’s instinctual reaction to a stressful situation. In modern times, stressors in your life aren’t always a result of the presence of physical danger, such as a grizzly bear who wants you to be its next meal. Most people nowadays feel these reactions when everyday life gets a little stressful — if you have a tight deadline at work, if you have a big fight with your spouse or if you realize you forgot to pay that bill on time. All of these situations can result in the same stressed-out feelings — an increased heart rate and a burst of energy, to name a few — which are famously caused by a hormone called adrenaline.
But what you may not know is that during a stressful situation, another hormone is at play: cortisol. Cortisol is released to help your body deal with stress, but if your cortisol level is out of control, it can do more harm than good.
Cortisol
Cortisol, or hydrocortisone, is a hormone that is released into the body in response to stress. It helps your body respond to stressful situations by increasing your blood sugar, enhancing your brain’s use of glucose and increasing the availability of substances that repair tissues. Additionally, cortisol suppresses body functions that would be nonessential in a fight-or-flight situation such as your immune system response, digestive system and reproductive system. All of these responses are intended for survival, but what happens when your cortisol levels don’t return to normal after the stressor is gone, or if you don’t have enough cortisol in the first place?
Too much cortisol in the body can cause a number of dangerous conditions including:
- Hyperglycemia
- Weight gain and obesity
- Decreased bone density
- Compromised immune and inflammation responses
- Increased blood pressure and damage to the heart
- Cushing Syndrome
While it is most often caused by chronic stress, the overproduction of cortisol can also be a result of long-term use of corticosteroids, a tumor on the pituitary or adrenal gland, or cancer.
Too little cortisol in the body can be problematic as well, causing:
- Weight loss
- Fatigue
- Low blood pressure
- Vomiting and diarrhea
- Loss of consciousness
All of these can be very serious problems, and dangerous to your health. If you are experiencing any of the issues listed above, but don’t know why, it’s time to find out what’s really going on. Take the first step towards better health by testing your cortisol level. Any Lab Test Now offers several options for cortisol testing:
- The Cortisol Lab Test is a blood test used to measure the level of cortisol in the blood.
- The Saliva Cortisol Test can determine your cortisol level by taking a saliva sample.
Contact the experts at Any Lab Test Now to learn which test is right for you.
Succeed at Your Weight Loss Goals
More than a month ago, we cheered as the new year began. Along with the celebrations, people all over the world planned to tackle new goals. For many, that goal was losing weight. Was this you?
When January first rolled around, did you sign up for a gym membership or lace up your sneakers? Did you start watching what you eat and making sure to drink enough water each day? Have you cut back on sweets and alcohol and fatty foods? Congratulations! These are all great steps toward achieving your weight loss goal.
If, despite these efforts, you find that you’re still struggling with unwanted pounds, it could be that your hormones are to blame. Your hormones direct your body to function in certain ways. From emotions and sex drive to appetite and blood sugar levels, your hormones carry information through the body that tells your systems how to act.
When you have too much or too little of a certain hormone, it can mean that your body’s systems are not receiving instructions correctly. For instance, cortisol is a hormone that is released during periods of high stress. It is intended to make sure that your body has enough energy to deal with stressful situations. When you live under significant stress for long periods of time, however, the cortisol levels in your body don’t have a chance to subside. This causes you to continually crave foods that can quickly convert to energy, like sugary snacks. Clearly, this can make fighting cravings more difficult.
Cortisol isn’t the only culprit, however. There are a variety of hormones that contribute to various aspects of your weight. Estrogen and progesterone help to balance fat in the system. Insulin helps to regulate our blood sugar levels. Even low levels of vitamin D or an underactive thyroid can wreak havoc when you’re trying to drop a size.
If you’ve been working hard to lose weight, but the scale simply won’t budge, hormones could be at fault. Finding out if hormones are to blame can be done quickly at your own home. Any Lab Test Now offers a weight management take-home hormone kit that will evaluate your hormone levels and help you and your doctor pinpoint issues so that you can succeed at your weight loss goals. Won’t it be nice to see all your hard work pay off this year?
Avoid Hormone Chaos with Testosterone Testing
Having low testosterone as a man can throw your whole body into chaos. Your body’s systems rely on hormones to tell them what to do, so if your hormones are not giving your body the right signals, you might notice changes in everything from your digestion and energy level to your sex drive and physical performance. If you have been suffering from unexplained changes in your body, testosterone testing might be the right answer for you.
According to the Urology Care Foundation, about four in every 10 men over the age of 45 experience low testosterone. The condition rarely occurs in men younger than 45, but when it does, it can be both unexpected and frustrating. It is natural for a man’s testosterone level to decrease as he ages, but if it dips too far below the normal threshold, uncomfortable symptoms can begin to occur and affect that man’s quality of life.
Symptoms can include:
an increase in body fat,
decrease in muscle mass,
calcium loss,
loss of bone density,
poor erections,
low sex drive, or
anemia.
The symptoms of a hormone dysfunction are unpleasant, but can be eliminated or reduced through proper treatment. Knowing the source of a hormone imbalance can give your doctor the information he or she needs to resolve your issue. Typically, treatment is managed through testosterone replacement therapy. Using a gel, shots, long-acting pellets, pills or patches, doctors can prescribe testosterone supplementation that restores a man’s testosterone to normal levels and alleviates his symptoms.
A carefully-administered test in a certified and safe laboratory environment is the only way to assure valid results for a testosterone level test. This is important, because treating a man who does not have low testosterone with hormone supplementation can have an adverse effect, and will not address any symptoms he might be experiencing. Supplementing a man’s testosterone when it’s not needed can actually lower a man’s sperm count and fertility. Some of our other panels that you also might want to consider are our Comprehensive Male Panel or Pre-Testosterone Therapy Panel.
Low testosterone can be more than unpleasant. This hormone is necessary for many of the functions in the male body, and lower levels of the hormone can throw the body’s systems out of whack. To resolve the discomfort and confusion, men who have found the aging process to be more frustrating than expected should consider testosterone testing to determine if a testosterone level disorder is the cause. Find your local Any Lab Test Now to schedule a test today!
It’s Thyroid Awareness Month!
Many people have heard of the thyroid, but few actually know how this gland impacts their body. For this reason, January is Thyroid Awareness Month. During this period, both individuals and practitioners are encouraged to become better educated about possible thyroid issues, causes and treatments.
The thyroid is part of the endocrine system. This gland transforms iodine that you consume into two hormones: thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine(T3). These hormones are then released into your body when needed to regulate the speed at which the body functions. When too much of the hormone is released, this speeds up the body’s functions and is known as hyperthyroidism. Conversely, when too little of the hormone is released, it slows down the body’s functions. This is known as hypothyroidism.
In both cases, the imbalance of hormones can lead to problems for patients. In those affected by hyperthyroidism, people may experience:
weight loss,
persistent vomiting,
increased blood pressure,
increased perspiration,
enlarged liver,
hair loss, or
a persistently fast heart rate.
When the body’s functions slow down due to hypothyroidism, patients often experience:
fatigue,
weight gain,
a short attention span,
dry skin,
thinning hair,
slow heartbeat,
numbness, or
cold intolerance.
Fortunately, many patients can work with an endocrinologist to re-balance their hormone levels and curtail these symptoms. The first step to healing is understanding your current hormone levels. An easy method for gathering data about your thyroid function is done through the take-home hormone kit. Samples are collected at home and then sent to Any Lab Test Now for evaluation. The test measures the amount of hormone in your bloodstream. It also evaluates the levels of various elements, like iodine, Cadmium, bromine, arsenic, mercury, and Selenium that impacts the production of the T3 andT4 hormones. Of course, other patients simply walk in to Any Lab Test Now for the thyroid panel and the Comprehensive Elements Thyroid Profile hormone kit which provide similar information.
Armed with data about thyroid and element levels, an endocrinologist will recommend the right course of action for bringing hormone levels back into balance. Options may include a variety of drug treatments, iodine treatment or (in extreme situations) surgical removal of the thyroid. Typically, it takes several weeks of treatment for the symptoms to subside. It is also important to note that dosage levels frequently need to be adjusted when a patient is first undergoing treatment because each body has very specific hormone needs to stay in balance.
As we enter January, and help to spread the word about Thyroid Awareness Month, we encourage anyone who may be experiencing hormone-related symptoms to stop in to their local Any Lab Test Now location for testing. A quick test may put you on the path to reduced symptoms and healthier living!
Five Recommended Tests for the New Year
Each January, people across the country resolve to get fit and improve their health. From increasing exercise and reducing stress to taking vitamins and eating right, people understand the importance of taking care of their bodies and minds. Taking care of oneself is a goal that has positive impacts on every area of life.
Of course, any time you set a goal, it is important to figure out how you will track your progress and measure the impact of the actions you take to reach the goal. When it comes to goals related to good health, there are tests that can help you evaluate where you are today and what your personal areas of focus should be.
In 2017, the top five suggested tests for men and women are:
Basic Check-Up Panel – This grouping of tests helps you evaluate your overall health. From liver function to blood pressure, this panel gives you a high-level view of your health today so that you can better pinpoint what is working well, what isn’t, and identify areas for improvement.
Comprehensive Female Panel – This is the most comprehensive panel for women. Not only does it evaluate your overall health, as in the Basic Check-Up Panel, but it also measures hormone levels, nutrition status and thyroid function.
Male Panel – Like the Basic Check-Up Panel, this gives you a good overview of your health. In addition, however, it evaluates adrenal functions that are specific to men and testicular health.
Nutritional Panel – Often, health and wellness issues can stem from having too much or too little of a nutrient in one’s body. Evaluating and monitoring the level of various nutrients in your body is a good first step to making sure your body has what it needs to perform at its best.
Cortisol Total Test – Cortisol is the hormone your body releases in response to stress. When cortisol levels are too high for an extended period, they can contribute to health issues. Monitoring your cortisol level is a good starting point if your goal is to reduce stress.
When it comes to good health, making the decision to take control is step one! Step two is learning about how healthy your body is today so that you can find specific areas for improvement. From there, you can establish a plan that meets your personal health needs. Then, when 2018 rolls around, you are sure to find yourself fitter and healthier!
Last Minute Gift Ideas — Take Home Hormone Kits
The world is full of balance — Yin and Yang, day and night, good and evil. Without balance, we have chaos and unpredictability. And just as the world needs balance, so does your body in order to thrive. Many people have a hormone imbalance in their body and don’t even know it — all they know is that something just feels…off.
They may feel like they’ve been battling unexplainable skin ailments, and that nothing they do seems to work. Or maybe they suffer from insomnia and just can’t achieve a restful, relaxing night’s sleep no matter what they do. Perhaps they struggle with overwhelming levels of stress, anxiety, allergies or even illnesses. They may struggle with maintaining a healthy weight, or even experience sudden weight gain despite every effort to maintain a healthy lifestyle. All of these problems can seem vastly unrelated, yet they all have one thing in common: they may be caused by a hormone imbalance.
If someone in your life is experiencing these or other unexplainable health issues, they may be suffering from a hormone imbalance. This holiday season, consider helping your loved one finally take control of their health, once and for all, with a Take Home Hormone Kit from Any Lab Test Now. Show your loved one that you’ve been listening to their concerns, and that you care about their health and happiness.
Give the gift of good health with any of these hormone testing kits available at Any Lab Test Now:
The Skin Vitality Take Home Hormone Kit is perfect for the loved one who feels betrayed by their own skin. Imagine the happiness they will feel when they can finally understand why they have been suffering from excessive dryness, wrinkling, discoloration or acne.
The Sleep Balance Take Home Hormone Kit is ideal for the loved one who just can’t get a good night’s rest. Bring joy to their holiday season by helping them finally learn why they are suffering from insomnia, and giving them the help they need.
The Adrenal Stress Take Home Hormone Kit is the perfect gift for the loved one who feels overwhelmed by stress and unexplainable health problems, from anxiety to allergies and even infertility.
The Elements-Thyroid Take Home Hormone Kit is a great option for those who are wondering if they are experiencing undiagnosed thyroid disease or dysfunction, which can present itself in many different symptoms.
The Weight Management Take Home Hormone Kit is a wonderful choice for the loved one struggling to maintain their ideal weight, despite every effort to do so. Show your loved one you care about their concerns by helping them take the first step toward a real solution and a happier life.
This holiday season, help your loved ones start feeling better all year long. Contact the experts at Any Lab Test Now to learn which hormone testing kits are right for you.
The 5 Best Tests to Use Your FSA On
HSA and FSA accounts can help you budget for your healthcare, and ensure you always have the money you need to pay for any unexpected health events. But if you still have money in your FSA, it will expire at the end of the year. Instead of letting your money vanish, put it to use by getting some testing or immunizations you’ve been putting off. Wrap up lingering health concerns now so you can start fresh in the new year.
Allergy Test
The holidays coincide with peak cold and flu season, but if your sniffles won’t go away, you might look into allergy testing. Up to 50 million Americans suffer from allergies. If you experience emotional or physical reactions after you eat, or if you frequently have symptoms like a stuffy nose or trouble breathing, you might have an allergy to something you ate. The Allergy Test goes through as many as 45 different foods and 45 environmental triggers to identify the root of your symptoms.
Intolerance Test
If you’ve been noticing symptoms that aren’t associated with an allergic reaction, then you might have a food intolerance. If you experience fatigue, gas or diarrhea, depression or anxiety, weight gain or a general chronic discomfort, you may want to get a food intolerance test. This becomes especially important as you grow older, because you can develop new food sensitivities or intolerances later in life.
Blood Cortisol Test
If your stress levels are through the roof, the holiday season will likely only make it worse — it can seem like your to-do list never ends! To see if your stress is starting to cause problems for your body, get a blood cortisol test. High levels of cortisol are dangerous, because over time they can lead to high blood pressure, inflammation, compromised immune response and weight gain.
Thyroid Test
The holiday meals sure are delicious, but do you know what isn’t so great? The holiday pounds. If your weight gain tends to stick around a bit too long after the holidays, you should get your thyroid tested. Your thyroid controls metabolic activity, which is vital for maintaining a healthy weight. Poor thyroid health is associated with symptoms like fatigue, short attention span, weight gain and numbness or cold intolerance. Thyroid disorders can also cause conditions like osteoporosis and heart disease.
Proof of Immunizations
Are you traveling for the holidays or early next year? The first thing on your list should be to make sure your immunizations are up-to-date, which you can do by getting a proof of immunization test. These tests ensure that you have gotten the immunizations you need and provide valid paperwork to prove that you are immunized, which can be helpful if you’ve lost any documentation.
Don’t wait for the new year to address your lingering health concerns. If you have an FSA that is going to expire soon, get the important lab tests you need before 2017! For more information, visit your local Any Lab Test Now.
Everyday Stress or Something More?
Sometimes when you wake up in the morning, it can be hard to lift your head from the pillow. You hear that alarm going off and can barely reach over to hit the snooze button. When you finally make it out of bed, coffee is the first thing on your mind. It has been a busy week: you are worn out and having trouble concentrating on the day ahead!
This feeling of being worn out is your body’s way of healing during times of stress. Your body is clamoring for more rest, because in order to restore itself, the body needs to sleep. As your body begins to heal, mornings become easier and your focus improves.
But, what if it doesn’t? What does it mean if you continue to feel lethargic and drained week after week? What if your brain feels fuzzy all of the time and you find that you are constantly forgetting things because you’re so tired? At this point, there may be something more than day-to-day stress causing your fatigue. Exhaustion, either physical or mental, should not last for weeks at a time.
Fortunately, a Fatigue Panel or Adrenal Health/Stress Profile will test for a variety of potential causes. Causes of fatigue are varied. In some people, it can be caused by a disease, such as Lyme disease or mononucleosis. In other people, it can be triggered by hormone or blood sugar imbalances. And, others may discover that fatigue is a result of conditions like anemia or low iron levels.
With so many causes of fatigue, the first step to regaining your energy is knowing why you feel drained. From there, treatments that include medication, diet, exercise and lifestyle changes can be used to help you recover. Of course, resolving your fatigue won’t completely get rid of sleepy, coffee-filled mornings, but it will certainly help you restore the energy and focus that it takes to make the most of your time from morning until night.
If you have been fatigued for more than two weeks, stop in to your local Any Lab Test Now location and ask for the Fatigue Panel. Keep in mind that this test does require fasting for eight hours prior to the sample being collected. You can also inquire about our Adrenal Health/Stress Profile. Both tests are a quick, simple way to help you start the process of recovery.
Do You Have Signs of Menopause?
Imagine sitting at work when all of a sudden a whoosh of heat races through your body, causing you to perspire and your heart to race. The first time this happens, you may attribute it to anxiety, poor dietary choices or lack of sleep. Chances are, however, that it will happen again and you may start to question if you’re entering menopause.
Menopause is the phase of a woman’s life where ovarian functions begin to shut down. As this happens, her period comes to an end and she is no longer able to conceive children. It is a perfectly natural change that happens to women around the age of 50, although it may start as early as 35 or as late as age 60. A woman has officially gone through menopause once she has gone 12 months without having a period.
Of course, the changes that take place in a woman’s body during this time do not happen all at one time. This often results in erratically timed menstrual cycles and a variety of physical, mental and emotional symptoms that are driven by the changing hormone levels in a woman’s body. This is known as perimenopause. While in perimenopause, it is important that women continue to be careful during intercourse, because their bodies are still capable of becoming pregnant.
Each woman experiences perimenopause and menopause differently, but the most frequently talked about symptom is known as “hot flashes” or “night sweats”. This happens when the changing hormones make it difficult for the body to regulate its temperature, resulting in a flush of heat that can last anywhere from seconds to a few minutes. That said, there are actually 34 potential symptoms that a woman may experience during this time in her life, ranging from panic attacks and hair loss to bloating and trouble sleeping.
Because menopause is a significant and potentially confusing life change for women, September has been identified as Menopause Awareness Month. This awareness month is intended to help women better understand what is happening to their bodies during menopause, and to be able to realistically manage related symptoms.
If you believe that you are beginning to show signs of menopause, Any Lab Test Now offers quick, confidential, tests like the Menopause Screening Panel or the Comprehensive Female Panel. These tests will help you understand whether your body is nearing or going through menopause so that you can have a more informed discussion with your doctor about any symptoms that you’ve been experiencing.
Introducing Any Lab Test Now’s Take Home Hormone Kits!
Hormones are natural chemicals that direct most of your body’s functions such as moods, sleep, hunger and your response to stress. When the body has too much or too little of a particular type of hormone, it creates a hormone imbalance, and it can cause problems that negatively impact your quality of life. People suffering from hormone imbalances often struggle to feel their best. When an imbalance is suspected, it’s important to do all you can to get to the bottom of what you’re feeling because time spent feeling ill is time you can never get back.
Any Lab Test Now understands the importance of living each day to the fullest and wants to help you understand what’s going on in your body. We are happy to introduce our new convenient Take Home Hormone Kits! These simple take home kits can evaluate your hormone levels overall or can target specific issues that you may be having, including those related to:
Why do you need hormone testing? It is important to remember hormones trigger numerous vital body processes. This means that a hormone imbalance can have a myriad of symptoms. Sleep and wake cycles, metabolism, brain function, sexual and reproductive health are all controlled by the activity of these hormones.
Hormones affect both men and women. Men and women typically experience hormone imbalances differently. For men, their testosterone levels tend to decline slowly as they grow older, which can lead to a loss in muscle mass, a decrease in energy and low libido. For women, their varying levels of testosterone and progesterone, the two primary sexual hormones, can cause symptoms that mimic menopause. These women report experiencing hot flashes, lethargy, bone loss or an increase in body hair. Doctors typically treat hormone imbalances through dietary changes, vitamin and mineral supplements, changes in physical activity and hormone supplements.
If you or a loved one are experiencing symptoms of hormone imbalance, consider a Take Home Hormone Kit today. All you have to do is purchase a kit at your local Any Lab Test Now, complete the test at home at your convenience, and put the kit in the mail. Postage and shipping materials are even included with the kit!
At Any Lab Test Now, we can help you find the answers you need to finally address your troubling symptoms and live your best life!
