Hormone levels in saliva - Draw your own conclusions
Once again, my intention with this article is simply for you, the reader, to form your own opinion, but with the proper foundation. In other words, after critically analyzing information “from both sides” involved in the issue; whatever you decide is your right, since it will have an impact on your health!
For some time now, I've noticed that in Brazil the vast majority of laboratories only measure cortisol in saliva. Perhaps this is because health insurance plans only cover this salivary dosage. But
Cortisol has a similar molecular structure to several other hormones, such as dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), estradiol, estrone, progesterone, testosterone and others. For more information, see: https://icaro.med.br/colesterol-e-hormonios-qual-e-a-relacao/
A patient who came from Portugal told me that in the public health system there, and in many other places in Europe, the dosage of the hormones mentioned above is covered by the state itself.
So I decided to study the subject further, something I always do when something seems contradictory or at least “strange”. Searching the internet, I mainly found these articles, links, texts and opinions that confirm what I already suspected: that the salivary dosage of steroid hormones, derived from cholesterol, really does seem much higher and more reliable than the blood dosage. This is because we know that water and oil don't mix, and therefore, even as a matter of logic, lipid-based hormones couldn't possibly mix properly with blood, which is based on more than 90% water.
🔗 Hormones in saliva - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/3512171/
🔗 [Current status of salivary hormone analysis] - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19789121/
🔗 Current status of salivary hormone analysis - https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18757583/
But of course, no coherent opinion can fail to listen to the opponents of an idea, so I tried to find out their reasons, which can be summarized in these links:
🔗 Salivary Tests - https://www.aetna.com/cpb/medical/data/600_699/0608.html
But there are many flaws, some of them gross, in the “arguments” of those who continue to defend the “orthodoxy”, the supposed supremacy of blood levels of steroid hormones.
About the first link:
🟩 It's material produced by one of the largest “health plans” in the USA and, for those who know a little about the reality of the health system there, with almost 60 million Americans not even entitled to health care, it's easy to imagine that the “reliability” of what is exposed may be modulated by interests in reducing costs for the plan and thus increasing profits. To understand what I've said, I strongly suggest you watch Michael Moore's documentary, Sicko, which is widely available on the internet: https://edisciplinas.usp.br/mod/resource/view.php?id=3659666
🟩 Criticizes the superiority of hormone dosage in saliva for steroid hormones, compared to blood, based on references more than 5 years old. If we consider that human knowledge doubles every 4 years, this is relevant. When he points to newer references, it's to discuss salivary cortisol dosage, which is already well established as useful and superior in various international and even Brazilian consensuses. In other words, it's either based on articles that are older than those that advocate informed salivary dosage, or it just reiterates what's known without concluding anything useful.
About the second link:
This is a CFM resolution in which the institution bans the salivary dosage of hormones in Brazil in the context of anti-aging, curiously enough, even the dosage of cortisol, which is already widely recognized as unquestionably useful by the medical community. It also includes several other prohibitions. However, it's a document with controversial content and consequences that have already been widely questioned in our country, with dubious foundations, in my opinion.
https://www.facebook.com/icaro.aa/posts/242118182581085
Having said all this, for those who have read and critically analyzed all of the above, I ask: what is your opinion on the matter?
Cheers and good thinking! - Ícaro Alves Alcântara
Português do Brasil 
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