DUTCH testing (Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones) is the most advanced method available for assessing the adrenal and reproductive hormones, and their many metabolites. This test is invaluable in assessing the hormone status in a variety of conditions including adrenal dysfunction, infertility, PCOS, endometriosis, and benign prostate hyerplasia. Hormones assessed include:
- 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.
- 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
- a-tetrahydrocortisol – this is a metabolite of cortisol
- b-tetrahydrocortisol – this is a metabolite of cortisol
- DHEAs – is a precursor to testosterone and estrogen, a high level can indicate PCOS and inflammation, a low level can indicate adrenal insufficiency
- 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
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
