Female Sexual Health, Fertility, Hormone Testing

It's almost always about the hormones!

Hormones and women just go together. From the time a girl reaches puberty, hormones begin playing a crucial role in her sexual development. A complicated combination of hormones is responsible for the menstrual cycle through pregnancy and eventually, menopause. Women and men both have male and female hormones and their levels can tell a lot about your sexual health. Establishing a baseline for hormone levels can help a woman monitor her sexual health from child-bearing years into pre and post menopause.

An important part of sexual health also includes detecting sexually transmitted diseases. The CDC recommends everyone over the age of 13 who is sexually active get a baseline HIV/AIDS test. Additionally if you are sexually active with more than one person or are sexually involved with someone who has had sex with another person, a full STD/STI work up will determine if you have been exposed to sexually transmitted diseases. Even if you’ve been in a monogamous long-term relationship, if your partner has had more than one partner, you may be at risk.

• http://women.webmd.com/normal-testosterone-and-estrogen-levels-in-women
• http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/tsh/test.html
• http://www.labtestsonline.org/understanding/analytes/fsh/test.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estradiol