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Body Balance StressCheck

Background Information:  

• Measures DHEA and Cortisol, your body's natural response to everyday stress

• Easy Saliva Collection

Stress is good for you.

It's true. Stress is often thought of in a negative light--and with good reason. However, stress, both physical and emotional, also helps your body stay active and alert, more prepared for obstacles it may face. Two hormones, DHEA (dehydroepiandrosterone) and cortisol, are your body's main forces for coping with stress. The balance of these hormones can affect how you handle the overwhelming feeling that stress can bring.

That's where StressCheck (our hormone stress test) comes in.

Stress Check by BodyBalance measures your DHEA and cortisol levels to determine their balance. Classified as adrenal or "stress" hormones--DHEA and cortisol serve as markers of stress response, regulating how your body reacts during stress. Each hormone is released into your bloodstream from your adrenal glands when your body feels stress and helps your body make the necessary adjustments to protect itself.

These two hormones help balance each other to ensure a stress response. DHEA is anabolic, a constructive hormone that affects the immune system, blood pressure, and sleep, among its many functions. Cortisol is a catabolic hormone, a hormone that also affects the immune system, blood pressure, and sleep. When your body feels stress, cortisol is essential. Cortisol maintains and raises your energy levels to assist your body during that stressful period. Together, these two hormones work to provide your body with an optimal stress response.

FEELING STESSED OUT? WHAT WE CAN DO FOR YOU...
StressCheck is a safe, easy-to-use, and reliable screen that uses a small saliva sample to measure your levels of DHEA and cortisol--hormones vital to your body's response to stress. This noninvasive and inexpensive screen provides the accuracy of a laboratory analysis without you having to leave the comfort of your own home. When you order your screen, we'll send a complete kit to you. You collect the required saliva sample and send it back to us in the prepaid return mailer provided. Within 7-10 working days of receiving your sample, we'll send your results to you.

WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR YOURSELF...
BodyBalance enables you to read your results and compare them to the general population. You can then work with your healthcare provider to develop an appropriate program to maintain and promote your well being.

Hormones are powerful chemical messengers that circulate through your bloodstream to specific target cells, where they generate a wide range of biological responses. You might think of hormones as the "prime movers" of your physical and emotional health.

Every time you get angry, become tired, laugh, cry, have sex, wake up, feel hungry, or fall asleep your body is responding to hormones. That's because hormone levels can impact virtually every major system and organ in your body.

HOW DO HORMONES AFFECT MY HEALTH?
There are several major hormones that have particularly powerful effects on your health, and each one plays a unique physiological role in the body.

SEX HORMONES...
Testosterone is the most critical hormone for maintaining a healthy sex drive - in both men and women. Testosterone also increases lean body mass and promotes muscle development. Low levels of this important hormone are linked to fatigue and depression. Balance is the key - too much testosterone may bring about various health conditions- and may play a role in triggering aggression and anger.

Estrogen (estradiol) modulates the course of both the menstrual cycle and menopause, so imbalances are directly linked to symptoms such as weight gain, headaches, PMS, mood swings, and abdominal cramps. An estrogen deficiency can double your risk of poor bone health and cardiovascular system dysfunction. Progesterone, along with estrogen, plays a major role in shaping a healthy menstrual cycle. Imbalances are associated with a variety of "female" problems, including endometriosis, amenorrhea, and infertility.

STRESS HORMONES....
Cortisol is a powerful steroid released to "activate" your body in times of stress. You need cortisol to "pump you up"' to meet all the daily challenges of life. Without it you'd have no motivation to even get out of bed in the morning!

But if your body produces too much cortisol over a long period of time, it can disrupt your blood sugar metabolism, trigger emotional problems, and make you feel constantly tired and weak. Eventually, chronic cortisol imbalances can lead to weight gain, muscle and joint pain, insomnia and premature aging.

DHEA is the most abundant hormone in your bloodstream. Although the complete scope of its function is not yet fully determined, DHEA seems to balance the effects of cortisol, by improving the body's ability to cope with stress. It also provides the source material for the production of important sex hormones.

Clinical studies suggest that DHEA can boost energy levels, strengthen immune function, improve memory, and reduce body fat. Some researchers believe that DHEA acts as a "mood elevator," preventing depression and senile dementia by protecting important neurons in the brain. DHEA levels should be closely monitored when supplementing, however, to prevent potentially harmful imbalances.

WHY DO HORMONE LEVELS CHANGE?
As you grow older, hormone levels can drop by as much as 80%-90% from their youthful peaks. Researchers have found that this decrease plays an important role in the aging process - ultimately impairing muscle development, sexual function, sleep patterns, and various brain functions - including memory, along with reducing one's overall sense of well-being.

In women, hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone fall most rapidly during and after menopause. In both men and women, however, cortisol levels have a tendency to rise with age, often causing a decreased resistance to stress.

HOW CAN OUR HORMONE CHECKS HELP?
A simple saliva health screen can determine if your hormone levels are within normal range for your sex and age group. Our line of Hormone health screens can be the first step toward getting your body back in balance - and helping you feel your personal best.

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NOTE: California Residents - Business and Professions Code 1246.5 Requires That Any Test that has not been approved by the Federal Food and Drug Administration for sale to the public without a prescription as an Over-The-Counter Test kit must be ordered by a Licensed physician acting on a patient's behalf.  All orders for test kits within the state of California

NOTE: New York State Residents New York State health law prohibits the testing of certain specimens collected in or mailed from New York, and prohibits the transmission of data from our laboratory to NY physicians or residents. Therefore, direct receipt of lab results for NY residents is not possible.

International Residents & Orders:  Extra shipping charges may be added for international orders.  Patients will be contacted by e-mail or telephone to approve charges.