From trying to conceive to navigating perimenopause and keeping an eye on our wider health, at-home testing is giving both men and women greater access to information about what is happening inside their bodies.
Healthcare has traditionally been reactive. We develop symptoms, visit a healthcare professional and begin looking for answers.
Health technology is helping to introduce a more proactive approach, giving people easier access to certain health measurements and the ability to follow changes over time.
For women, one particularly interesting area is female hormone mapping.
Looking beyond a single hormone test
Female reproductive hormones fluctuate throughout the menstrual cycle, so a measurement taken on one particular day provides information from that point in time.
Forth’s MyFORM® Female Hormone Mapping takes two timed blood samples and measures four reproductive hormones: oestradiol, progesterone, follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) and luteinising hormone (LH).
The results are used to create a personalised representation of hormone patterns across the menstrual cycle, providing information about ovarian response and the likelihood that ovulation has occurred.
This can be particularly interesting for women who are trying to conceive.
Understanding your cycle when trying to conceive
Ovulation is a fundamental part of natural conception.
LH plays an important role in triggering ovulation, while progesterone normally rises following ovulation. Progesterone also plays an important biological role in preparing and maintaining the uterine lining for pregnancy.
Understanding whether expected hormonal changes appear to be taking place can therefore provide useful information about a woman’s menstrual cycle when she is trying to conceive.
Hormone mapping can help provide a clearer picture of hormone patterns and whether the results are consistent with ovulation having occurred.
No hormone test can tell a woman whether she will become pregnant or whether a pregnancy will progress successfully. Fertility and pregnancy depend on numerous factors, and anyone experiencing difficulty conceiving should seek appropriate medical advice rather than relying on home testing alone.
Used appropriately, however, hormone information can help women better understand their cycles and provide useful information to take into conversations with their GP or fertility specialist.
What about perimenopause?
Hormonal patterns also change as women approach menopause.
Forth’s MyFORM® Perimenopause Test uses two blood samples to measure the same four reproductive hormones alongside symptom information, with the aim of providing greater insight into hormonal patterns and ovarian response.
For otherwise healthy women aged 45 and over experiencing menopause-associated symptoms, NICE guidance recommends identifying perimenopause or menopause based on symptoms and menstrual history.
Services such as MyFORM can provide additional information about hormone patterns which some women may find useful in understanding their bodies and discussing their symptoms with healthcare professionals.
Don’t stop at hormones
Preventive health extends far beyond reproductive hormones.
Cardiovascular health, blood sugar, nutritional status, liver and kidney function and other areas of health can all matter throughout adulthood.
This is where the wider preventive-health movement becomes particularly interesting.
Doctor-led preventive-health company Selph has developed 7 Simple Checks, an annual blood-testing programme designed to look at fundamental areas of long-term health.
The idea is not simply to take more tests. It is to establish health information that can be followed over time.
And that may be where health technology can provide some of its greatest value.
Knowing your baseline
A single blood result tells us what was measured at a particular moment. Repeated appropriate measurements can potentially provide something different: a history.
Knowing your own baseline and observing changes over time can provide useful information to discuss with healthcare professionals where necessary.
When trying to conceive, understanding menstrual-cycle and hormone patterns can provide additional insight into ovulation.
During the transition towards menopause, understanding symptoms alongside hormonal changes can help women become better informed about what is happening to their bodies.
And throughout adulthood, preventive health means looking beyond hormones to the wider systems that keep the body functioning.
The opportunity for healthtech isn’t to turn everyone into their own doctor.
It is to give people better access to appropriate health information, help them understand their own baselines and make it easier to have informed conversations with healthcare professionals.
Perhaps the future of healthcare isn’t simply treating illness earlier. It is becoming better informed about our health while we are still well.
Health testing should not be used as a substitute for medical diagnosis or professional healthcare advice. Anyone with concerning symptoms, fertility difficulties or concerns about menopause should seek advice from an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.
