DUTCH, Oura Rings, and Predicting Fertility

by Clinical Consulting Team

Bryan Mayfield, PharmD, BCGP is a registered pharmacist, medical writer, and clinical instructor at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. He received his Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree from Xavier University of Louisiana in 2013 and became board certified in geriatric pharmacy in 2017. Bryan also holds certifications in medication therapy management and community-based point of care testing. He has practiced in community, hospital, and specialty pharmacy settings which allows him to uniquely understand the various aspects of the healthcare continuum and bring that expertise to every client and patient interaction.

Currently, Bryan serves on multiple committees for the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists including the education review subcommittee, the pharmacy educators and research council, the antimicrobial stewardship committee, and the senior care pharmacist workgroup committee.

Precision Analytical Inc., the creators of DUTCH (Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones)® is excited to announce the recent publication of a research study they supported and participated in. The research titled “Ultradian Rhythms in Heart Rate Variability and Distal Body Temperature Anticipate the Luteinizing Hormone Surge Onset” was completed collaboratively with researches from The Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, University of California Berkley.

DUTCH testing was used in tandem with the Oura Ring to explore a potentially new method for predicting and defining the fertile window for women. Mark Newman, MS, president and founder of Precision Analytical Inc. was a coauthor of this paper which demonstrates how ultradian rhythms of distal body temperature and heart rate variation, measured using the Oura Ring, were able to anticipate the LH surge “at least two days prior to its onset in 100% of individuals.” This finding has the potential to lead to the full development of a novel fertility awareness tool that would be extremely useful for both women trying to conceive, as well as those seeking a natural contraception method.

The Oura Ring was used to measure distal body temperature, sleeping heart rate, sleeping heart rate variability, sleep time, and sleep duration. The DUTCH Test® was used in a subset of the women who participated in this study to obtain daily measures of urinary estradiol and progesterone metabolites. Specifically, researchers measured urinary estradiol, a-pregnanediol, and b-pregnanediol in these women. Luteinizing hormone was also measured using the WondFo Luteinizing Hormone Urinary Test.

The data obtained from the DUTCH Test® helped researchers identify when study participants were likely ovulating as well as helped to determine the classification of cycle types (premenopausal or perimenopausal). This was accomplished by identifying the expected rise in progesterone metabolites following LH surges as well as the pre-LH rise in estradiol in premenopausal women. In perimenopausal women, the increase in progesterone metabolites was observed after midcycle.

In addition to its utility in cycle monitoring and mapping, the DUTCH Cycle Mapping™ test was also a good match for this study because of its convenience, ease of sampling, and adaptability to field studies. It is exciting to see yet another way in which DUTCH testing can be used to help improve the lives of patients. To learn more about how you can use our hormone testing to help your patients with any cycle related issues, please visit this page .

Precision Analytical is committed to improving wellness and changing lives by providing important insight into hormones and their function in the human body. PA’s state-of-the-art innovation in hormone testing is now the world leader in hormone testing. The DUTCH Test® quickly caught the attention of functional and integrative medicine professionals by providing the most comprehensive look at hormones through simple patient collection and helping practitioners answer the most complex clinical questions. In addition, the PA lab uses the most advanced analytical methods and instruments to achieve the most reliable and trusted results.

Please contact us if you are interested in using DUTCH testing in any research studies.