Advanced Sports Hormone Blood Test

Here’s a breakdown of each biomarker and its associated benefits:

1. Lipid Profile

The Lipid Profile measures key fats in the blood, including LDL (bad cholesterol), HDL (good cholesterol), triglycerides, and total cholesterol.

• Benefits:

  • Cardiovascular Risk: Helps assess the risk of heart disease and stroke by measuring cholesterol and fat levels. Elevated LDL and triglycerides are linked to a higher risk of atherosclerosis, while higher HDL levels can offer protective benefits.

  • Early Detection: Detects lipid imbalances early, enabling lifestyle or medical interventions to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

2. Full Blood Count (FBC)

The FBC measures components of the blood, including red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, hemoglobin, and hematocrit.

• Benefits:

  • Anemia Detection: Identifies low hemoglobin or red blood cells (anemia), which can cause fatigue and weakness.

  • Immune System Health: Provides insights into white blood cells, which help monitor immune system function and detect infections or immune disorders.

  • Platelet Count: Monitors blood clotting ability, which is important for preventing excessive bleeding or clotting disorders.

3. HbA1c

HbA1c reflects the average blood glucose level over the past 2-3 months, measuring how much glucose is attached to hemoglobin.

• Benefits:

  • Diabetes Monitoring: Vital for diagnosing and managing diabetes or prediabetes. Elevated levels suggest poor blood sugar control, increasing the risk of complications like heart disease, kidney damage, and nerve issues.

  • Long-Term Glucose Control: Provides a more accurate assessment of glucose regulation than short-term blood glucose tests.

4. Free Testosterone Calculation (Free Test Calc)

This test measures the amount of testosterone that is unbound and biologically active in the blood.

• Benefits:

  • Hormonal Imbalances: Measures free testosterone, which plays a key role in reproductive health, energy, muscle mass, and mood. Low levels can cause fatigue, low libido, and muscle weakness, while high levels can indicate issues like polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) or tumors.

  • Sexual Health: Important for assessing hormonal issues related to sexual health and function in both men and women.

5. Follicle-Stimulating Hormone (FSH)

FSH is a hormone involved in regulating the reproductive system, stimulating the ovaries in women and the testes in men.

• Benefits:

  • Reproductive Health: In women, FSH plays a role in ovulation, while in men, it affects sperm production. Abnormal levels can indicate issues with fertility, menopause, or testicular function.

  • Menopause Assessment: Elevated levels of FSH in women can indicate menopause or ovarian insufficiency.

6. Luteinizing Hormone (LH)

LH works closely with FSH to regulate reproductive processes, including ovulation in women and testosterone production in men.

• Benefits:

  • Ovulation & Fertility: Helps assess ovulation in women and can be useful in fertility assessments or diagnosing disorders like PCOS.

  • Testicular Function: In men, LH levels can help assess testosterone production and testicular function.

7. Oestradiol

Oestradiol is a form of estrogen, a key hormone in regulating the menstrual cycle, fertility, and overall reproductive health.

• Benefits:

  • Menstrual Health: Oestradiol levels are important for monitoring reproductive health in women, particularly for assessing ovarian function, menstrual irregularities, and menopause.

  • Fertility: Crucial for evaluating fertility issues, as it plays a key role in the maturation of eggs and the menstrual cycle.

8. Testosterone

Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone, but it is also present in women, though at lower levels. It plays a crucial role in muscle mass, libido, and overall vitality.

• Benefits:

  • Sexual Health: Essential for assessing both male and female sexual health. Low levels can cause a decrease in libido, fatigue, and muscle loss, while high levels can indicate certain medical conditions like tumors or PCOS.

  • Reproductive Health: Monitoring testosterone levels helps evaluate reproductive health and conditions like hypogonadism or PCOS.

9. High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-CRP)

hs-CRP is a highly sensitive test for measuring low levels of inflammation in the body, particularly related to cardiovascular risk.

• Benefits:

  • Cardiovascular Risk: Elevated hs-CRP levels are associated with an increased risk of heart disease and stroke, even in individuals with normal cholesterol levels.

  • Chronic Inflammation: Indicates the presence of systemic inflammation that could contribute to conditions like arthritis, diabetes, or autoimmune diseases.

10. Iron Function

The Iron Function test measures iron levels, including serum iron, ferritin, total iron-binding capacity (TIBC), and transferrin saturation, which help assess iron status and storage in the body.

• Benefits:

  • Anemia Detection: Helps diagnose iron-deficiency anemia, a common condition that causes fatigue, weakness, and dizziness.

  • Iron Overload: Elevated iron levels can indicate conditions like hemochromatosis, which can lead to organ damage.

11. Kidney Function

This set of tests evaluates how well the kidneys are functioning by measuring key markers like creatinine, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR).

• Benefits:

  • Chronic Kidney Disease: Early detection of kidney dysfunction or chronic kidney disease (CKD) can help prevent progression to kidney failure.

  • Renal Health: Vital for individuals with high blood pressure, diabetes, or other conditions that can affect kidney function.

12. Liver Function

Liver function tests (LFTs) assess the levels of liver enzymes and proteins, such as ALT, AST, bilirubin, and albumin.

• Benefits:

  • Liver Disease: Helps identify liver conditions like hepatitis, fatty liver, and cirrhosis.

  • Detoxification: Crucial for monitoring liver health and ensuring the liver is properly filtering toxins from the bloodstream.

13. Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone (TSH)

TSH is produced by the pituitary gland and stimulates the thyroid to produce thyroid hormones that regulate metabolism.

• Benefits:

  • Thyroid Health: Low or high TSH levels indicate thyroid dysfunction, which can lead to conditions like hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid) or hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid).

  • Metabolism Regulation: Thyroid dysfunction can affect metabolism, energy levels, and mood.

14. Free Thyroxine (FT4)

FT4 is the unbound (active) form of thyroid hormone, and its level is a critical indicator of thyroid function.

• Benefits:

  • Thyroid Function: Together with TSH, FT4 helps provide a complete picture of thyroid health. Low FT4 levels indicate hypothyroidism, while high FT4 levels suggest hyperthyroidism.

  • Metabolic Control: Thyroid hormones regulate energy expenditure, body temperature, and mood.

Overall Benefits of This Blood Test

1. Comprehensive Health Evaluation: This test offers a detailed overview of multiple body systems, including cardiovascular, metabolic, reproductive, liver, kidney, and thyroid function.

2. Early Disease Detection: It helps detect potential issues like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hormonal imbalances, and organ dysfunction early, allowing for prompt intervention and management.

3. Reproductive and Hormonal Health: Essential for evaluating hormonal health, particularly in women (menopause, fertility, ovulation) and men (testosterone levels, sexual health).

4. Personalized Treatment Plans: Provides critical data to healthcare providers for creating tailored treatment plans based on individual health profiles, including lifestyle changes, medications, and further investigations.

5. Long-Term Health Monitoring: Regular monitoring of these biomarkers helps track chronic conditions like diabetes, thyroid issues, and kidney disease, ensuring effective management and prevention of complications.

Conclusion

This 18-biomarker blood test provides a thorough and detailed assessment of overall health. It’s especially beneficial for monitoring cardiovascular health, diabetes management, reproductive health, hormonal balance, organ function, and inflammation. Regular testing and early intervention based on the results can improve long-term health outcomes and help prevent serious conditions from developing.

In addition to a full blood count (FBC), our advanced profile also examines iron and protein levels and core body functions, such as liver and kidney function. A cholesterol profile, as well as CRP-hs (a high-sensitivity inflammation marker), is included in this test.

Our advanced test will check your hormone status to see if they're affecting your training or impacting why you're not making the gains you expect. It's also useful if you're experiencing symptoms or low testosterone or if you're taking steroids and want to check your general health.

Our Advanced Sports Hormone Blood Test checks your levels of core performance-related hormones, such as testosterone, oestradiol, LH, and FSH. SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin) is also measured, which allows us to make a calculation of free testosterone levels.