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For a while, I've been wanting to get some tests done to check my vitamin/mineral/amino acid levels, my hormone levels, and maybe even food sensitivities*.
I browsed various test kits that can be ordered online. Some only require saliva, urine, or blood-prick samples that you can collect yourself and mail in to a lab. Others require blood to be drawn. Some (for testing toxic metal and mineral levels) even use hair samples.
At first I wondered if the saliva tests would be as accurate as blood tests, in those cases where levels may be checked by either method (such as for hormones). It seems that they may be; but I'm a bit unclear as to the significance of levels of bound versus free hormones. Apparently, saliva tests only measure free hormones.
A person's hormone levels may fluctuate a lot. From what I read about testosterone in females, there are no agreed upon "low" or "normal" ranges. So even assuming I get back accurate measurements, I'm not sure what it can tell me. But I am curious whether my levels are on the low side or not.
Then I wondered how I could know whether the various labs were trustworthy. Maybe *none* of the ones offering do-it-yourself kits were really reliable... But then again, when you get tests done at a doctor's office, those samples get sent to labs too. Surely some of the labs must be trustworthy?
I did some web searching to find out whether various labs/tests were reliable, with mixed results. I decided not to use one particular lab, due to it having filed a defamation lawsuit against a website (QuackWatch.org) which had publicized potentially unscrupulous activity by the lab. (After reading the article in question, I would have given the lab the benefit of doubt, as it sounded to me that the medical practitioners involved were more to blame than the lab. But having the lab try to take down the article via a defamation lawsuit seems detestable to me.) Then I read something else which made me question how trustworthy the QuackWatch website was...
Sigh. Who to trust? What to trust?
Anyway, for the moment, I've decided to get a saliva hormone test done, and this nutritional test.
* - My mouth was sore for the last 3 days (a rather unusual occurrence), leading me to suspect I had eaten something that I was sensitive to. But after reading about the unreliability of some IgG tests, it's probably not worthwhile for me. I don't have any significant digestive issues anyway.
I browsed various test kits that can be ordered online. Some only require saliva, urine, or blood-prick samples that you can collect yourself and mail in to a lab. Others require blood to be drawn. Some (for testing toxic metal and mineral levels) even use hair samples.
At first I wondered if the saliva tests would be as accurate as blood tests, in those cases where levels may be checked by either method (such as for hormones). It seems that they may be; but I'm a bit unclear as to the significance of levels of bound versus free hormones. Apparently, saliva tests only measure free hormones.
A person's hormone levels may fluctuate a lot. From what I read about testosterone in females, there are no agreed upon "low" or "normal" ranges. So even assuming I get back accurate measurements, I'm not sure what it can tell me. But I am curious whether my levels are on the low side or not.
Then I wondered how I could know whether the various labs were trustworthy. Maybe *none* of the ones offering do-it-yourself kits were really reliable... But then again, when you get tests done at a doctor's office, those samples get sent to labs too. Surely some of the labs must be trustworthy?
I did some web searching to find out whether various labs/tests were reliable, with mixed results. I decided not to use one particular lab, due to it having filed a defamation lawsuit against a website (QuackWatch.org) which had publicized potentially unscrupulous activity by the lab. (After reading the article in question, I would have given the lab the benefit of doubt, as it sounded to me that the medical practitioners involved were more to blame than the lab. But having the lab try to take down the article via a defamation lawsuit seems detestable to me.) Then I read something else which made me question how trustworthy the QuackWatch website was...
Sigh. Who to trust? What to trust?
Anyway, for the moment, I've decided to get a saliva hormone test done, and this nutritional test.
* - My mouth was sore for the last 3 days (a rather unusual occurrence), leading me to suspect I had eaten something that I was sensitive to. But after reading about the unreliability of some IgG tests, it's probably not worthwhile for me. I don't have any significant digestive issues anyway.