The DUTCH Adrenal from Precision Analytical is available at Toronto Centre for Naturopathic Medicine (DUTCH is an acronym for Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones).
DUTCH Adrenal is one of the most advanced tools for assessing adrenal hormone function, stress physiology, and HPA-axis regulation.
It measures a patient’s levels of cortisol, and a range measurements related to cortisol, over the course of the day. Cortisol is a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal glands that plays a crucial role in managing the body’s stress response, regulating blood sugar, decreasing inflammation, and controlling blood pressure, among other function.
DUTCH Adrenal is widely used by naturopathic doctors and integrative and functional medicine practitioners to gain detailed information that standard blood tests cannot detect, in patients suffering from chronic fatigue, sleep issues, or persistent stress symptoms.
The DUTCH Adrenals measures (among other :
- Cortisol levels at four different samples over the course of the day
- Cortisone levels at four different samples over the course of the day
- Metabolized cortisol levels
- Cortisol clearance rate
Measurement of not only cortisol, but cortisone, metabolized cortisol and cortisol clearance rate, allows for a much clearer understanding of a patient’s total stress hormone “output” over the course of the day than measuring cortisol only (as in a blood test).
Measurement of stress hormones, in urine, over the course of the day allows for an understanding of the patient’s stress hormone levels over the day, rather than at any particular moment (as in a blood test).
DUTCH Adrenals may provide useful guidance if you experience:
- Fatigue
- Poor sleep
- Mood issues
- Blood sugar dysregulation