What does the TSH level and the FSH level mean?
Hormone function tests, or endocrine profiles, may test levels of these normally occurring hormones to check levels of thyroid, pituitary and ovulatory hormones.
TSH
THYROID-STIMULATING HORMONE
– TSH is a hormone from the pituitary gland in the brain that tells the thyroid gland to produce thyroid hormone. Thyroid Hormone is essential for almost every function in the body. If the thyroid is not producing enough thyroid hormone, the pituitary will produce more TSH. Therefore, high TSH is the easiest way to diagnose inadequate thyroid function.
Although this test is regarded by the mainstream medical community as the only way to diagnose “low thyroid” function, Dr. Kunz combines this test with historical and clinical evaluation and actual T4 and T3 levels to determine if your thyroid is deficient, under-functioning, or under-active.
FSH
FOLLICLE-STIMULATING HORMONE
– FSH is a hormone from the pituitary gland in the brain that tells the ovaries (ovarian follicles) to produce the female hormone estrogen. If the ovaries are not working, as happens at menopause, the FSH levels will go very high as the pituitary tries to get the ovaries to work. Therefore, a high FSH level is a good laboratory indicator of ovarian failure just as a high TSH indicates low thyroid function.
ESTRADIOL
– this is the hormone level typically regarded as the main “female” hormone. Levels of estradiol (along with other variants, estriol and estrone, vary throughout a woman’s menstrual cycle and then decrease after menopause.
TESTOSTERONE
– generally regarded as the main “male” hormone, it is actually the predominant sex hormone in both women as well as men, second only to thyroid hormone in its role maintaining mental, physical, and metabolic energy in the human body. Levels of testosterone diminish in men after the age of thirty and even more dramatically in women, even prior to menopause.
