Hormone Balance: thyroid and sex hormones in your blood

At a glance

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Who is it for?

Hormone Balance is for women and men with questions about their hormones: about their cycle, about trying for a baby, about the menopause, about libido, or about changes they cannot explain, such as often feeling cold or losing hair. The panel adds the free thyroid hormones to the thyroid picture and adds the pituitary control hormones to the sex hormones.

Hormone Balance is an add-on package: you book it with an active NOA Core membership, it is analysed from the same blood draw as the Core panel, and it is billed yearly together with your membership. You get the interpretation in the app and in the doctor's consultation that comes with your membership.

Common reasons

These situations are good reasons to know your values:

• Your cycle is irregular or has changed
• You are planning a pregnancy and want to know your baseline
• You are entering the menopause or wonder whether it is starting
• Your libido has dropped
• You feel cold more often than others
• Your hair is getting thinner or falling out more
• You have stopped the pill and want to see how your hormones settle

Planning a pregnancy is a good reason for Hormone Balance, being pregnant is not: during pregnancy many blood values are interpreted differently, hormones above all. We therefore currently ask you not to book a NOA Core membership or an add-on package while you are pregnant. NOA is meant for adults who want to know their values as a preventive step. Acute symptoms belong with your doctor.

What the values show

Thyroid

Free T4 is the storage form of thyroid hormone, free T3 the active form, which is made from T4 in the tissues. Together with TSH from the Core panel, they show how your thyroid's control loop is working. The thyroid influences body temperature, energy, skin and hair. Eating very little or training hard over a long period can lower free T3 without the thyroid itself being affected.

Sex hormones and how they are controlled

Oestradiol is the most important oestrogen: in women it steers the cycle, in men a large part of it is made from testosterone. LH and FSH from the pituitary gland signal the ovaries or testes to produce hormones, and their relationship is calculated as the LH/FSH ratio. In women these values vary widely across the cycle, and FSH rises during the menopause. Hormonal contraception such as the pill changes them as well.

Prolactin

Prolactin is known for milk production but acts in women and men alike: persistently high levels hold back LH and FSH and with them oestradiol and testosterone. This links prolactin to the cycle, libido and fertility. Stress, lack of sleep, some medicines and even the blood draw itself raise it temporarily, so a slightly raised value is best discussed with your doctor before reading anything into it.

Adrenal glands and hormone conversion

DHEA-S is the most abundant hormone of the adrenal cortex and a precursor of testosterone and oestrogen. It barely changes over the day but falls with age, so it is interpreted against your age group. The testosterone/oestradiol ratio puts testosterone from the Core panel in relation to oestradiol and shows how much testosterone is converted to oestradiol in the tissues.

All values

Thyroid

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Sex hormones

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Adrenal axis

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All values at a glance

How to prepare

You receive the same advice by email before your appointment.

• Pause supplements. No supplements until the draw, for example biotin, iron, multivitamins or omega-3. Ideally stop biotin 2–3 days beforehand. Preparations prescribed by a doctor count as medication.
• No hard training 24–48 hours before. Intense sessions distort inflammation and muscle values (hs-CRP, CK, ferritin). A gentle walk is fine.
• No alcohol 24 hours before. It affects the liver values.
• Drink plenty of water. At least 1 litre of water the day before and in the morning. Good hydration makes the blood draw easier.
• Come fasting. Eat nothing for the last 12 hours beforehand (for glucose, insulin and blood lipids). Water is allowed and even encouraged.
• Coffee only after the draw. Even unsweetened. Only once your blood has been taken.
• Medication as usual. Take it as usual.
• Rested and relaxed. Stress and rushing shortly before can affect individual values.

How it works

1. Take out your NOA Core membership online and add the panels you want.
2. Book a morning appointment at an NOA Health Lab near you.
3. Come fasting: the blood draw takes about 15 minutes on site.
4. Your values are usually in your dashboard within 4 working days.
5. In the doctor consultation by video, you go through what matters for you.

Locations near you

Goes well with

• The base, always included

  NOA Core membership

  102 values

  Who it is for: Anyone who wants to know their health status

  €299 per year

• Optional

  Performance

  19 values

  Who it is for: Endurance and strength athletes who train a lot

  €149 per year

• Optional

  Retest upgrade

  46 values

  Who it is for: Anyone who wants to measure what changes

  from €169 per year