New Tests Offer Physicians Better Insight into Body Chemistry – Including Risks for Breast Cancer
Two new dried urine tests provide more comprehensive reporting on thyroid dysfunction and the estrogen metabolites associated with breast cancer risk
ZRT Laboratory today announces the availability of two new panels of urine-based tests – the Urine Metabolites Profile and the Thyroid-Elements Profile. Each profile provides physicians with a more detailed view of a patient’s hormone synthesis and function, leading to faster and easier determination for the root cause of various medical conditions.
“These new tests provide deeper insight into thyroid and steroid hormone formation and function at the cellular level,” said Dr. David Zava, Ph.D., founder and CEO of ZRT Laboratory. “I am especially pleased to now be testing estrogen metabolites – as this focuses on the risk of breast cancer.”
The Urine Metabolites Profile, which is designed to assess issues with sex steroid metabolism, focuses on the broad range of estrogen metabolites associated with both a lower and increased risk for breast cancer. Metabolites of progestogens, androgens, glucocorticoids, and free cortisol and cortisone are also reported. Ideal candidates for this profile include patients with a history of or significant risks for hormone-dependent cancers, such as breast or prostate cancer. Additional candidates are patients who struggle with weight management, insulin resistance or adrenal dysfunction and need more comprehensive hormone testing.
“The release of the Urine Metabolites profile is really a continuation of the work that Dr. John Lee and I started in 2002 in the book we co-authored, What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Breast Cancer: How Hormone Balance Can Help Save Your Life,” says Zava.
The Elements Profile, which is designed to provide insight into why patients are unable to synthesize or convert thyroid hormones, includes tests for Iodine, Selenium, Bromine and Arsenic. Mercury testing is an optional addition. This panel spotlights the effects of these elements on thyroid hormone formation and function, which is critical to regulating cellular energy metabolism, heart rate and protein synthesis. Ideal candidates for this testing include patients whose thyroid test results appear normal but have symptoms of thyroid deficiency. This test is also ideal for patients who are likely to have exposure to the environmental pollutants mercury, bromine and arsenic, which compete with iodine and selenium in the formation and actions of thyroid hormones.
Development of these new profiles is spurred in part by a surge in consumer concern over exposure to environmental pollutants and the increased interest in controlling risk factors for certain cancers and chronic diseases. Rather than ordering a variety of individual tests, clinicians now have the ease of ordering a collection of relevant tests in a single panel.
Keeping with the ZRT tradition of providing more than just numbers, each profile provides a personalized and comprehensive report that significantly facilitates effective patient management. Both tests are performed with urine, which is easily collected on filter strips throughout the day and dried before shipping to the laboratory. This method avoids the nuisance and embarrassment of all-day sampling, which requires a patient to carry a urine collection container with them.
These product announcements come in conjunction with ZRT Laboratory’s 15-year anniversary, which the company is celebrating with a comprehensive rebranding initiative. The company maintains the same leadership with founder and chief scientist David Zava, Ph.D., who has been instrumental in directing the innovations in testing and reporting for which ZRT has received industry-wide recognition.
About ZRT Laboratory
Headquartered in Portland, Oregon, ZRT LABORATORY is the recognized leader/innovator of saliva, dried blood spot and dried urine testing methodologies. Unlike traditional labs that provide only a test number, ZRT specializes in individualized evaluations with meaning. Easy-to-read color graphic reports go beyond the numbers and correlate symptoms with lab test levels and current medical treatments to help physicians target areas for treatment or further evaluation. History reports with up to four of the most recent tests, also help physicians quickly evaluate, contrast and compare changes in hormone levels and symptoms associated with treatment. Established in 1998, ZRT Laboratory is celebrating its 15-year anniversary.
