The Post-Menopausal Health Panels^™

Literally, menopause means the cessation of the monthly menstrual cycle and signals the end of a woman's natural childbearing years. Menopause is neither a disease nor an illness; it is a natural and usually gradual change in glandular function. It has its origins in the beginning of menses and culminates in a series of hormonal changes that result in the cessation of menstrual flow. This transition produces a variety of bodily manifestations and symptoms, and is due to changes in production of hormones and the timing of their release.

Various body parts undergo change and can produce one or more of the following symptoms:

Endocrine

• Bleeding irregularities
• Vaginal dryness
• Hot flashes / sweats
• Changes in sex drive

Nervous system

• Insomnia
• Nervousness, irritability
• Headache
• Mood Changes
• Depression

Metabolic changes

• Skin aging / cosmetic changes
• Osteoporosis
• Altered fat and carbohydrate metabolism
• Atherosclerosis

What can you do about it?
There are several therapeutic options which may minimize or even eliminate many of the symptoms:

1. Treat symptoms using synthetic hormones and/ or "natural hormones" without hormone level testing. This approach can have serious side effects, and is essentially attempting to manage symptoms while jeopardizing your overall health.
2. Treat and correct symptoms using holistic, natural therapies while testing for hormone levels before & after treatment.

Why should you test?
Hormones are powerful substances that control multiple functions throughout the body. Hormone levels should be sufficient and balanced. Too much or too little of them is not conducive to long-term emotional, mental and bodily health.

By not measuring the hormones before and after treatment your hormone picture is, at best, an educated guess, since hormone levels from woman to woman can vary 200 - 1,500%.

Just as you cannot balance your bank account without numbers on your bank statements, hormone testing provides both a basis for holistic treatment and proximity to your goal.

One can then:

• Optimize functional hormone levels to relieve symptoms.
• Achieve appropriate physiologic levels of your body's hormones.
• Increase sense of "well being" by balancing underlying hormone imbalances.

What do we test for and what does it tell you?
We test for male and female natural hormones. One, two, six or eight of them, depending on the need. We utilize your saliva as a sample for measuring hormones, such as Testosterone, DHEA, Progesterone, Estriol, Estrone, Estradiol, Dihydrotestos-terone,* and Androstenedione.*

The brain derived regulating hormones, FSH** and LH,** are also measured to help assess efficacy of control and feedback between the brain and ovaries.

Saliva hormone values reflect the tissue concentration of your hormones. Blood and serum contains the total hormone, but your tissues are only bathed with the active or effective fraction as found in saliva. Active fraction measurements are superior to blood and urine measurements both in diagnosis and treatment.

*Part of the Male Hormone Test^™
**Included in the expanded PHP-1^™

How can we help you?

Let us take a common example:
A woman suffers from several symptoms-migraines, hot flashes and emotional fragility. She is having irregular periods, one every 6-8 months. Her doctor treats her with natural estrogens, and he does not do any testing to determine quantities or types of hormones that will meet her specific needs. The symptoms are under control, but her risks are the following:

• Increased blood pressure
• Endometrial cancer (uterine cancer)
• Fibroid growth
• Gallbladder disease
• Over 15 years, at least twice the risk of breast cancer

What could we have found out if we had tested her saliva hormone levels? We would have known that she has too much estrogen, not enough progesterone to balance the estrogen, low DHEA, and marginal testosterone.

But, she felt good on the estrogen, many will say. Yes, however, the silent killers (cancer, blood pressure, heart disease) rarely make anyone feel bad at the start. Her best course is a new holistic treatment plan, designed around the objective saliva hormone measurements.

How do you benefit?
There are five distinct areas that you will benefit from using the saliva tests.

1. They are affordable and less expensive than blood or urine tests. Blood testing for 6 hormones costs $250-$300 more than saliva testing.
2. Collection procedure spares you the pain of venipunctures with a hypodermic needle.
3. Results are more clinically reflective of your hormone status.
4. Results can lead to an individualized and customized treatment plan using natural therapies.

With salivary hormone testing, guesswork is past news.