The ZRT Laboratory Blog

Urine, serum, plasma, whole blood, red blood cells, feces, hair, fingernails…the list goes on. How do you decide what biological sample(s) to use for element analysis? Can results be compared to scientific literature or do they have clinical significance? Is it possible for values to be elevated or low in one sample type and normal in another? Do test results indicate recent intake, body burden,…

Tags: Elements Testing, Heavy Metals, Dried Urine Testing, Blood Spot Testing, Iodine, Selenium, Bromine, Arsenic, Cadmium, Lead, Mercury, Magnesium

Read this article

It may come as a surprise to most people that each year, the last full week of April is dedicated to recognizing and celebrating laboratory professionals. This year Medical Laboratory Professionals Week falls on April 24-30. Setting aside one week a year to acknowledge these experts is a perfect opportunity to increase public awareness of, and appreciation for, clinical laboratory personnel. Just…

Tags: Laboratory Quality, Saliva Testing, Dried Urine Testing, Blood Spot Testing

Read this article

CLIA-certified testing laboratories such as ZRT are required to provide reference ranges as an aid to interpretation of test results. Ideally, reference ranges provide the expected range of values for a healthy population. When methodology and equipment is identical for testing a particular analyte among different laboratories, reference ranges for that analyte should be the same. However, when…

Tags: Dried Urine Testing, Saliva Testing, Blood Spot Testing, Research

Read this article

Practice Takeaway: Providers should be aware that three different body fluids – saliva, blood or urine – can be used to assess adrenal gland function, and should know each method’s advantages and disadvantages, when deciding how to test patients. Inadequate or excessive production or disrupted circadian patterns of cortisol synthesis by the adrenal glands in response to stressors can eventually…

Tags: Dried Urine Testing, Saliva Testing, Blood Spot Testing, Stress, Adrenal and Cortisol

Read this article

Symptoms of hormonal imbalance can often be challenging to assess. Is your patient exhibiting signs of estrogen dominance because her estrogen is too high or is it due to the progesterone being too low? Is his fatigue because he’s not making enough testosterone or that his adrenal glands are working over-time? Are her imbalanced sex steroids the cause of her depression or is it the low thyroid…

Tags: Hormone Balance, Saliva Testing, Blood Spot Testing, BHRT

Read this article

Two vitamin D studies were published recently, both utilizing ZRT's testing in dried blood spot. Dried blood spot samples are well suited for research applications because they are equivalent to serum but have the advantage of ease of sample collection, shipping, and storage, which doesn’t require any refrigeration or biohazard labeling. Also, samples are easily identified by details that can…

Tags: Hormone Balance, Vitamin D, Research, Blood Spot Testing

Read this article

An FDA-approved testosterone gel was shown to significantly increase risk for adverse cardiovascular, respiratory, and dermatological events in men 65 or older who had impaired mobility and increased health risks. This is according to a recent study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) that casts a shadow on the common use of testosterone therapy in older men for…

Tags: Saliva Testing, Blood Spot Testing, Testosterone, BHRT, Hormone Balance

Read this article