Description

Essential Estrogens™ is a targeted urinary hormone test designed to evaluate estrogen metabolism specifically. This hormone test offers clinical insight into parent estrogens, key estrogen metabolites, and relevant ratios and is useful for initial estrogen assessment as well as follow-up testing to monitor response to therapies and/or to check levels of previously abnormal results.

Essential Estrogens^® with Genomics

Personalize Patient Treatment Protocols with Genomic Testing

We are excited to announce that the addition of select genomic markers to our Essential Estrogens profile. Assessment of these select genomic markers (also known as SNPs) in conjunction with urine hormone testing, supports broadened clinical insight into women’s and men’s health concerns.

Genomic testing using these SNPs may provide awareness into an array of conditions for which the peri/menopausal and andropausal patient seek support such as anxiety and other mood shifts, cardiovascular disease, cardiometabolic syndrome, bone health and hormone detoxification capacity.

Complete Hormones kit requisitions will now include the option for ordering one or more of the following SNPs:

• MTHFR – Methylenetetrahydrofolate Reductase

• • Low bone mineral density and/or fracture risk
  • Potential risk of all cancers
  • Low levels of B vitamins, especially folate
  • Risk for cardiovascular disease and stroke

• COMT – Catechol-O-Methyltransferase

• • Mood Disorders
  • Chronic, high levels of stress
  • Increased risk for fracture
  • High or imbalanced estrogen levels, especially 4-hydroxyestrogn

• VDR – Vitamin D Receptor

• • Autoimmune diseases
  • Metabolic syndrome
  • Cancer risk and progression
  • Osteopenia/osteoporosis

• CY1B1 – Cytochrome P450 1B1

• • Increased risk for cancers in specific populations
  • Exposure-specific cancers

Estrogen imbalance can produce challenging symptoms during the transitional periods of perimenopause/ menopause and andropause (male menopause) including:

• Weight gain
• Anxiety
• Fatigue
• Low sex drive and performance issues
• Hair loss
• Sleep disturbances
• Mood instability
• Brain fog
• Hot flashes

Why use the Essential Estrogens profile?

In conventional hormone testing, basic parent hormones (estrogens, progesterone, etc.) are usually measured in blood. However, urinary hormone testing, as offered in Essential Estrogens, provides several advantages:

• Urinary hormone testing provides a more comprehensive look at hormone metabolism, measuring basic parent hormones, as well as compounds produced from parent hormones
• Emerging research reinforces the potential relationship of disease risk with downstream estrogen metabolites, which are not routinely measured in blood testing and not available in salivary testing
• Available as a convenient at-home collection of a first-morning or 24-hour specimen

The Essential Estrogen test is a subpanel of Complete Hormones, a more comprehensive evaluation of sex- and steroid-hormone biomarkers.

Genova also offers an additional Complete Hormones sub-panel with targeted clinical utility:

• Estrogen Metabolism Assessment – a focused measurement of specific hydroxyestrogens, providing a rapid, convenient way of assessing the balance between two estrogen biomarkers (2/16 ratio)