The Labs I Run

[SWALE]

Total Testosterone
Bioavailable Testosterone (sometimes called “Free and Loosely Bound”)
Free Testosterone (if Bio T is not available)
SHBG
DHT
Estradiol (specify by the “Extraction Method” or “Ultra-Sensitive”)
Total Estrogens
LH
FSH
Prolactin
Cortisol
Thyroid Panel (TSH, FT3, FT4)
CBC
Comprehensive Metabolic Panel
Lipid Panel
Homocysteine
PSA (if over 40)
IGF-1 (if HGH therapy is desired)
Fasting Insulin


At the one month point, I follow-up with these assays:
Total Testosterone
Bioavailable Testosterone
Free T and SHBG (if Bio T is not available)
Estradiol (specify by the “Extraction Method” or “Sensitive”)
DHT (if patient is using a transdermal delivery system)
SHBG
FSH (3rd gen "sensitive" assay)
CBC
Lipid Panel
Comprehensive Metabolic Panel
(if ALT/AST from above are elevated, then get a GGT)

...I hope this helps!


__________________

[Transhuman]

Whic lab do you typically use? Quest? Labcorp? I know that they use different methods (and have different reference ranges) for testing hormone levels and I never understood why some physicians prefer one over the other.

[SWALE]

I usually use Quest. However, Labcorp is very good, too. If the patient's insurance requires a particular lab, then we go there.

[scrappy]

This may be a dumb question but do you need to fast before these labs or no?
If so how long?

[SWALE]

This is a very important question.

you only need to fast if you are wanting to get a good triglyceride level. You can actually check CHOL, HDL, lDL etc without fasting.

Other than Lipid Profile assays, there is no need to fast.

[scrappy]

Thanks Swale,
Is like an overnight, 8 hour, fast good enough?

[SWALE]

Here is the standard order for my over 40 patients:

"Even though you will be fasting for 12 hours, please remember to drink lots of water. Also, no alcohol or working out for 24 hours beforehand. Since I will be drawing a PSA, no sex for 24 hours, either."

Now, what they do as far as recovering from their food consumption and abstinence from sex is their business once I have my blood sample.

[loopfitt]

Swale do you know of anyway I can get these tests done in Toronto,Ontario?

[SWALE]

Yes, contact my good friend and coleague Dr. Larry Komer at:

info@mastersmensclinic.com

[patches prescott]

what can i ask for to check damage to my liver?