I had the privilege of sitting down with Dr. David Zava, the founder of ZRT Laboratory and someone I’ve had the pleasure of knowing for over 20 years. During our conversation, Dr. Zava shared insights into his fascinating journey from studying environmental chemicals at the University of Tennessee to founding ZRT in Beaverton, Oregon. Over the years, Dr. Zava's pioneering research and unwavering…
The balance of hormones is essential for all aspects of human health and the same plays true for athletes. Whether you are a beginner working on getting into shape and losing weight, or a seasoned veteran with many competitions under your belt, understanding your hormones and how they change with intense exercise is essential to getting as much as possible out of your training. ZRT Laboratory is launching 2 new kits that will enable athletes to track their hormones and help them better understand the changes happening to their body.…
Tags: Fitness, Athletes, Blood Spot Testing, Saliva Testing
The Compounding Pharmacy industry has certainly taken huge strides in providing devices that allow for easy and accurate delivery of creams, gels and ointments. This has been especially appreciated in the field of hormone replacement, where accurate dosing is critical. Over the years we have gone from jars and measuring spoons to syringes for hormone cream dispensing. Fortunately, now there are…
Tags: Hormone Replacement Therapy, Estrogen, Testosterone, Hormone Balance, Saliva Testing
In the U.S., the Thanksgiving holiday is upon us - a day traditionally set aside to gather, feast and give thanks. Aside from the holiday that reminds us to be thankful, gratitude in and of itself brings on powerful emotions of contentment, satisfaction, and resilience. There is an abundance of research on the benefits of spending even 5 minutes expressing, writing about, or meditating on…
Tags: Mental Health, Stress, Depression, Sleep, Hormone Balance, Neurotransmitters, Adrenal and Cortisol, Hormone Testing, Saliva Testing
ZRT is a company made up mostly of women. It’s not that we don’t have men working here, but 80% of our employees happen to be women. A combination of a company mostly of women, working in the health field, and having gone to medical school which tends to take away that filter that says “perhaps certain topics are off limits,” can lead to hilarious conversations like our one today on the favorite…
Tags: Menstrual Cycle Mapping, Estrogen, Progesterone, Saliva Testing, Blood Spot Testing, Menstruation
Delivery of the bioidentical hormones estradiol (E2), progesterone (Pg), and testosterone (T) through the skin as a cream or gel (topically) has become a mainstay of bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) for women and men. A plethora of FDA-approved pharmaceuticals, compounded, and even over-the-counter topical BHRT products are available. The popularity of these products lies not only…
Tags: Bioidentical Hormones, Estrogen, Progesterone, Testosterone, Dried Urine Testing, Blood Spot Testing, Serum Testing, Saliva Testing
One of ZRT's most popular tests includes diurnal assessment of a patient's salivary cortisol levels. On the surface, these tests seem easy enough to interpret, but experienced clinicians know there can sometimes be pitfalls. Patients testing cortisol in a clinical setting may take undisclosed medications, live under stressful conditions, have inflammation, genetic variations, tumors, and diseases.…
Tags: Stress, Saliva Testing, Adrenal and Cortisol
I wanted to share a few of the studies using saliva testing that were published in the literature in 2016. Just a hint, if you want to search for articles on saliva testing, use pubmed.gov and search saliva estradiol (or progesterone, testosterone etc.). Be aware that saliva hormone testing is so standard in the research world that rarely is it mentioned in the titles of the papers. Over 310…
Tags: Saliva Testing, Research, Estrogen, Testosterone, Progesterone, DHEA, Adrenal and Cortisol
It may come as a surprise to most people that each year, the last full week of April is dedicated to recognizing and celebrating laboratory professionals. This year Medical Laboratory Professionals Week falls on April 24-30. Setting aside one week a year to acknowledge these experts is a perfect opportunity to increase public awareness of, and appreciation for, clinical laboratory personnel. Just…
Tags: Laboratory Quality, Saliva Testing, Dried Urine Testing, Blood Spot Testing
Treatment TakeawayOn awakening cortisol should increase about 50% in the first 30 minutes then begin to progressively drop the remainder of the day. Three, rather than one, early morning collections are what is needed to accurately assess the CAR; one immediately on waking, one 30 minutes later, and another at 1 hour. Thirty minutes after awakening from a good…
Tags: Stress, Cortisol Awakening Response, Saliva Testing, HPA Axis, Adrenal and Cortisol
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