On Nov. 24, the sun set in the tiny Greenlandic town of Ittoqqortoormiit. For the next three months, the Inuit inhabitants of this isolated, icebound landscape will take their children to school in the dark, work in the dark, and pick them up in the dark. And though townspeople admit that, "it can get depressing for people who weren't born here, especially in December," the local mindset is that…

Tags: Hormone Balance, Vitamin D, Melatonin


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Got SAD? Got ODD? Here's News You Can Use

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


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New Research on Vitamin D Using Dried Blood Spot Testing

Early in the 20th century, research in the nutritional arena was blossoming. Scientists were swiftly realizing that the nutritional requirements to "support life, growth and reproduction" in both animals and humans were more than simply proteins, carbohydrates, fats and minerals, as commonly believed. And, all scientists working in the field knew that this missing knowledge was key to relieving a…

Tags: Vitamin D


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The Phenomenon of Vitamin D

Weight management is a topic that generates a lot of questions. There are many contributing factors, and if diet and exercise haven't worked for you, there may be underlying causes to consider. Hormone imbalance is one of them, so I've answered 10 of the most frequently asked questions that arise when patients start to think about getting tested. Let's jump in...1. Why do postmenopausal women gain…

Tags: Weight Management, Hormone Balance, Patient Education, Metabolic Health, Estrogen Dominance, Menopause, Vitamin D


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The Hidden Truth About Hormones And Weight Gain: Your Top 10 Questions

Do you regularly see 40-something female patients who cannot budge the belly fat no matter how hard they try? Or 50-something mid-lifers who say they never had a weight problem until they hit menopause or andropause? If you haven’t considered testing their hormones yet, this should pique your interest. There’s a hormone connection to “unexplained weight gain” (ICD-9 783.1), and it could be the…

Tags: Weight Management, Hormone Balance, Menopause, Andropause, Estrogen Dominance, Vitamin D


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Physicians Get New Perspective on Patient Obesity

Before you get pregnant, or right when you get pregnant, blood tests are done to check for anemia, certain viruses, blood type and other markers. Increasingly, doctors are now also testing a woman’s vitamin D level. Vitamin D has been a hot topic in the medical world for a few years, but why and how is it affecting conception, pregnancy and the health of the newborn? This question - about vitamin D…

Tags: Vitamin D, Hormone Balance, Fertility


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Vitamin D and Pregnancy

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