The ZRT Laboratory Blog

According to the American Institute of Stress, 55% of people in the United States experience daily stress. Stress is, technically defined as the body's nonspecific response to any demand – pleasant or unpleasant – but more commonly perceived as a state of physical, mental, or emotional strain or tension. Chronic stress is especially prevalent in the workplace, with 83% of employees reporting daily work-related stress. However, statistics show that stress among students is also significant, common, and increases proportionally to a student’s progress through the educational system.…

Tags: Mental Health, Brain Health, Adrenal and Cortisol, Cortisol

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It’s an everyday occurrence when someone calls the doc line at the lab and wants to know how they can change the labs to improve their patients’ symptoms. However, it’s important to take a step back and look at what labs can tell us. While it’s true that abnormal lab findings can contribute to symptoms – high thyroid-stimulating hormone reflects hypothyroidism, high testosterone reflects polycystic ovary syndrome, and hyperandrogenism or low cortisol may contribute to fatigue. Yet, in many other conditions, labs reflect the medical condition happening in that patient’s body and not a cause of the problems. Let’s look at a couple of examples of this chicken-and-egg discussion.…

Tags: Cortisol, Estrogen, Testosterone, Menopause

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If you have ever experienced a near-miss collision or other accident, you have likely felt the rush of adrenaline coursing through your veins almost instantly. In that moment, your heart rate, blood pressure, and respiratory rate increased, your pupils dilated, and your brain felt immediately more alert.…

Tags: Stress, Cortisol, NeuroAdvanced

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If one were to create a word cloud of our clinical consulting calls in 2020, the word “phosphatidylserine” would likely float to the center in a large, bold, brightly colored font. After a year spent coping with a global pandemic, record high unemployment, social distancing, and remote learning for students, accompanied by not only an extreme wildfire season but also a contentious presidential election in the U.S., people are stressed – and it shows.…

Tags: Cortisol, Stress, Mental Health, PMS and PMDD

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We are ancient biological beings living in a modern world where food and light are readily available all hours of the day and night; however, the daily pattern of light and dark that is the circadian rhythm still governs our behavior and physiology.…

Tags: Cortisol, Melatonin, Sleep

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Last weekend I went whitewater rafting. A particularly turbulent patch of the rapids caught me off guard, when I tumbled off the raft into the water. It all happened so quickly. We hit a big rock, the raft turned vertical and I fell into the river. I was swept under and spat back out, my body tossed around like a tiny paper boat. I was gasping for air with the whitewater waves rising in front of me, crashing over…

Tags: Cortisol, Neurotransmitters, Brain Health, Mental Health, Heart Health, Stress

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For the past 4 weeks, each morning for me starts with a cup of coffee and a side of news about the global health pandemic in which we’re living. Invading our world rapidly, forcing everything to look different today compared to just a month ago, COVID-19 has everyone on high alert! Throughout the rest of my day, I allow myself to be interrupted by articles about the virus, nurturing the feelings…

Tags: Adrenal and Cortisol, Androgen, Cortisol, Covid19, Estrogen, Hormone Testing, Hormone Balance, Immune System, Selenium, Stress, Zinc, Vitamin D

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Having just entered my forties, my radar’s perked for solid information coming out of the research community on the perimenopausal transition. What can I do to make this 10 or so years of transition useful and even helpful to the future postmenopausal me? As women, we’re no strangers to functioning in some level of consistent discomfort – whether cycle-related, birth control related, pregnancy or…

Tags: Menopause, Cardiovascular Disease, Estrogen, Progesterone, Hormone Replacement Therapy, Metabolic Health, Cortisol

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A symbol of femininity for so many women, our hair demands attention. Both deeply personal and superficially public, changes in the looks of our hair can inspire a range of emotions, driving us to willingly partake in its cutting, straightening, curling, bleaching, darkening, or other aggressive chemical treatments. Hair is part of who we are and how we present ourselves to the world. This is why…

Tags: Stress, Menopause, Cortisol, Progesterone, Estrogen, PCOS, Thyroid Health, Vitamin D, Vitamin B12

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