Numerous at-home menopause test kits are already available in the U.S. and other parts of the world. But, the question is, how effective are they? Here's what health experts shared.
Rise of At-Home Menopause Test Kits
For those who have no idea what menopause is, it is the 12-month period after a woman has her last period.
Before this happens, ladies will undergo perimenopause (or the menopausal transition), which typically happens between ages 45 to 55 years old.
The menopausal age of women tends to change their bodies. Because of this, they want to know if they are already in that stage.
This is why at-home menopause test kits are becoming more available across the globe. Companies behind those home menopause kits, such as Clearblue, said that they want to end the confusion of women about menopause.
"What we've seen from our research is a real need for this product," said Dr. Fiona, Clearblue's R&D senior director, via Time Magazine.
"Online, menopause is searched 10 times as much as fertility, and two out of three women feel unprepared for the menopause journey," she added.
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Are Home Menopause Test Kits Effective?
At-home menopause test kits are noninvasive methods to check for certain hormones in urine, saliva, and blood.
Their main goal is to assess FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone); a kind of hormone that the pituitary gland secretes as part of the menstrual cycle and egg development.
Most home menopause test kits work by testing women's urine every other day for around 10 days.
However, The Guardian reported that urine tests are not enough to predict if a woman is going through the phase of menopausal transition.
This is why at-home menopause kit manufacturers always clarify that consumers never replace medical advice with their kits.
Despite this explanation, many health experts accused home menopause test kit providers of misleading their consumers.
Dr. Annice Mukherjee, a hormone doctor from the Society of Endocrinology, claimed that FSH is not a reliable marker of perimenopause.
"It is not a reliable marker of perimenopause and can cause more confusion among women taking the test," she explained.
Annice added that when women misinterpret the results they receive from these at-home menopause test kits, they can do things that can harm their health.
Opinions of health experts regarding home menopause test kits are divided as of writing. This is why the best thing that women can do is to ask assistance from doctors and other health professionals to check the results they get.
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