Saliva hormone testing is an accurate and easy way for a man or a woman to assess their level of steroid hormones. Those hormones such as estradiol, progesterone, testosterone and estrogen, which you may have thought could only be tested by blood, are also present in our saliva.
Thirty years of documented saliva testing has shown that this method (which has been approved by the World Health Organization), is very accurate, convenient and non-invasive. Steroid hormones in our saliva reflect the portion of circulating hormones in the blood that are unbound by serum binding proteins (free or bioavailable) and are able to enter tissues throughout the body.
The salivary hormone values reflect the biologically active (the unbound) portion available to target cells. Blood hormone panels reflect both bound and unbound forms of hormones and do not provide information about the bioavailable part of hormone, which can vary depending on the level of blood hormone binding proteins.
Hormone saliva testing tells us the amount of hormones in our body that are actually usable by our cells; where as blood testing evaluates all circulating hormones regardless of their availability to our cells.
Anyone can do this easy test. There is for example a company called ZRT Laboratory in Oregon, which provides saliva hormone testing kits that can be mailed to your home with full instructions and packaging for mail return to receive results. Usually the results can or should be sent to your physician for your evaluation medically and a copy can be sent to you. The procedure for testing is simply spitting into small vials at 4 periods throughout the day, filling them at the time and amount requested, sealing the tops and returning it back to the kit for send-off.
Many health professionals believe this method of testing your hormones, whether man or woman patient, to be the most accurate reading of your hormones.