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Comparisons
COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES & BENEFITS
| Saliva Tests | Serum Tests | Urine Tests |
| Real
Life Adrenal Function Evaluation: Multiple Salivary Specimens. Can be collected under real life situations, at work, at home, etc. Hormone values reflect real life physiological conditions and responses. |
Serum
collection requires clinic visit and creates apprehension due to anticipation
of venipuncture. This causes artificial increase in cortisol. Only approximates real life conditions. |
24 -hour urine has metabolites of the hormones and is not time specific and does not reflect time sensitive hormonal and stress responses. |
| Ease
of Collection: Saliva is easilty collected by the patient. |
Serum tests require clinic staff and disruption of routine schedule of patient. | 24-hour urine collection is cumbersome and time consuming, especially for women. |
|
Minimal Biohazard: Patient collects sample with minimal biohazard to clinic staff. |
Serum collection is biohazardous to clinic staff especially with AIDS and Hepatitis. | Urine collection is minimally biohazardous to clinic staff. |
|
Time Specific: Multiple saliva samples collected at different times allow evaluation of hormonal stress response and circadian rhythm. |
The routine single serum sample does not allow circadian rhythm evaluation, i.e., no real time component | 24-hour urine is absolutely time non-specific and does not reflect circadian rhythm variation at all. |
Comparisons (continued)
| Saliva Tests | Serum Tests | Urine Tests |
|
Bioactive hormonal fraction: Salivary cortisol reflects the unbound bioactive hormone level to which living cells are subjected. This is the hormone level that needs to be evaluated. |
Routine serum hormone testing reflects total hormone level not the bioactive fraction. Total levels are crude estimates of unbound bioactive hormone. | Urine hormones reflect production and catqabolism and do not reflect tissue level hormone concentrations that living cells are exposed to. Urine hormone interpretation is very misleading. |
|
Therapeutic discrimination: Because
the ASI can sub classify adrenal dysfunction into time related values,
B sub classes of dysfunction are thus discernable. |
With
serum and urine testing, results are reported as: high, low, or normal. Hormone values & treatment options are limited and not always synchronized and harmonious with the natural circadian cycle of the patient. A crude approach to therapy. |
(see listing under serum itesting) |
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Diagnos-Techs, Inc.
6620 South 192nd Place, Building J
Kent, Washington 98032
Toll Free (800) 878-3787 Fax: (425) 251-0637 E-mail: Diagnos@diagnostechs.com
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