No Two Patients Have the Same Hormonal Profile – Why Should Hormone Testing Be One-Size-Fits-All?

Although endocrine (hormonal) profiles differ from one person to the next,¹ hormone tests have traditionally tended to follow a one-size-fits-all approach. But healthy individuals of the same age and sex can have hormone levels that differ by 5- to 10-fold,² which means standard reference ranges and uniform testing panels may miss personal nuances. In this article, we’ll discuss the benefits of the shift towards personal hormone profiling.

Hormone secretion is dynamic and sensitive to factors like stress, circadian rhythms and individual metabolism,² so a single snapshot test may not capture a patient’s whole story. Fortunately, we’re starting to see a rise in more personalized hormone testing, designed to help healthcare providers uncover individual hormone patterns and address issues more effectively.³

One key innovation driving personalized profiling is multi-sample hormone diagnostics, which involves combining data from blood, saliva, urine and other specimens to build a comprehensive view of a patient’s hormonal health.⁴ Different sample types offer complementary insights into hormone function.

Different types of hormone tests

The different hormone testing methods available today each have their advantages and limitations. By triangulating saliva, blood and urine samples, healthcare practitioners can get a rich dataset. 

Saliva hormone testing⁴

Advantages:

• Non-invasive: Saliva samples can be collected easily and non-invasively
• Convenience: Saliva tests can be performed at any time, making them a convenient option for patients with busy schedules or who have difficulty attending medical appointments
• Suitable for specific hormones: Because cortisol levels can be effectively measured in saliva, these tests are useful when testing adrenal function and stress-related conditions

Disadvantages:

• Sample contamination: Saliva samples can be easily contaminated by food, drink or oral hygiene products, which can affect the accuracy of the test results

Blood (serum) hormone testing⁴

Advantages:

• Accurate: Blood tests are considered the gold standard for hormone testing thanks to their accuracy. They directly measure the levels of hormones in the bloodstream, providing a clear picture of a patient’s hormone health
• Comprehensive: Blood tests can evaluate a wide range of hormones, including thyroid, sex and adrenal hormones. This makes blood testing suitable for diagnosing a variety of hormonal conditions

Disadvantages:

• Invasive: Blood tests require a needle to draw blood, which can be uncomfortable and cause anxiety for some patients
• Costly: Blood tests are typically more expensive than other hormone testing methods, especially when testing multiple hormones
• Timing: Hormone levels in the blood can fluctuate. To obtain accurate results, blood tests may need to be taken at specific times, which can be inconvenient for patients

Urine hormone testing⁴

Advantages:

• Less invasive: Urine tests are less invasive than blood tests and may be suitable for patients afraid of needles
• Cost-effective: Urine tests are typically more affordable than blood tests

Disadvantages:

• Lower accuracy: Urine tests are generally considered less accurate than blood tests, because they measure hormone metabolites rather than the actual hormones
• Limited scope: Urine tests may not be suitable for measuring all hormones and therefore have limited use

A multi-sample approach highlights the complex interplay among hormone systems rather than viewing each in isolation.⁴

Multi-sample hormonal profiling in action

A good example of personal hormonal profiling is Endo+, which has the unique ability to test saliva, blood and urine samples simultaneously. This means healthcare providers can create tailored hormonal profiles that reveal insights and connections between sex hormones, thyroid function, adrenal health, melatonin rhythms and estrogen metabolism. It provides a view of hormone health that can’t be achieved with a one-dimensional endocrine test.⁵

Personal hormonal profiling applications for women’s health

Personalized, multi-sample hormone testing has been especially useful in areas like fertility monitoring and perimenopause management, where subtle hormone fluctuations are clinically crucial. 

In fertility tracking, timing is everything, as small shifts in luteinizing hormone (LH), estrogen or progesterone⁶ can narrow the fertile window or confirm ovulation. Traditional practice might only measure a couple of hormones once or twice a cycle, but that approach can miss a surge of LH or a brief progesterone rise. Today, innovative at-home hormone tracking kits like Oova can use multiple urine samples and AI analysis for greater precision.⁷

During perimenopause, hormones like estrogen and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) begin to fluctuate unpredictably.⁸ A single blood test might label a patient ‘normal’ even as she experiences early vasomotor symptoms or cycle changes. Here, a personalized hormone testing strategy offers significant advantages. By monitoring multiple hormones over time, a doctor can identify the signature hormone pattern of perimenopause for that patient.²

Because many endocrine disorders have overlapping symptoms, researchers are testing AI models that incorporate full hormone panels and clinical features to distinguish between different conditions.² For example, if a patient presents with fatigue and irregular menses in her late 40s, an algorithm might simultaneously consider her thyroid panel, cortisol curve and sex hormones to determine if the picture fits hypothyroidism, adrenal dysfunction or perimenopause.² 

Personalized hormone testing applications for thyroid and adrenal health

The conventional screening test for thyroid health is thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) alone, but relying solely on TSH can be misleading.⁹ Patients with subtle thyroid dysfunction or atypical presentations might have ‘normal’ TSH despite significant symptoms. Also, because of circadian fluctuations, TSH can vary by 40%–50% over a day in any given individual.²

In contrast, a personalized hormone profile for thyroid health typically examines a panel of thyroid markers: TSH together with free T3, reverse T3, free T4 and thyroid antibodies, offering a more complete picture.¹⁰

Adrenal hormone profile assessment is another area where multi-sample testing helps. Because cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) follow a daily cycle, spiking at dawn and dipping at night,¹¹ multi-point cortisol testing has become a mainstay for personalized adrenal health evaluation. It typically involves testing saliva samples taken four times throughout the day.¹²

Tailored endocrine testing is therefore a good example of personalized medicine, helping more patients get correct diagnoses and proper guidance for managing their conditions.

How does AI improve hormone test accuracy?

AI applications are helping transform the way hormone assays work. AI can  integrate huge temporal datasets of hormone levels and detect tiny variations that signal an endocrine shift before it becomes clinically obvious.²

AI-driven tools are evolving to model multi-hormone systems, offering clinicians a more holistic understanding of endocrine function and helping with clinical decision-making.²

AI is also improving hormone management after diagnosis. In diabetes care, for example, algorithms already assist with insulin dosing adjustments. Researchers are currently working to develop new AI tools that can support dose optimization and real-time hormone monitoring.²

Enabling the next generation of hormone assays

Implementing personalized, multi-sample hormone profiling requires robust laboratory assays and quality materials. Hormones exist in minute concentrations, so sensitive and specific testing techniques are essential to reliably quantify them across different sample types.¹³

Immunoassays rely on high-affinity antibodies and purified antigen standards to detect hormones accurately. This is where companies like Medix Biochemica support assay developers behind the scenes. Medix Biochemica is a leading raw materials supplier for in vitro diagnostics (IVD), offering a broad portfolio of monoclonal antibodies, antigens and biospecimen samples that diagnostic manufacturers use to build and validate their hormone tests.¹³

Medix Biochemica has over 40 years’ experience producing premium-quality antibodies for an array of hormones, from fertility markers to TSH and beyond.¹³

Read more: Hormones

Thanks to support from raw-material experts and the ongoing advancements in tech and AI, the idea of an ‘endocrine fingerprint’ is becoming a reality,² making personalized medicine and individualized care accessible to more patients.

Download the Medix Biochemica hormones catalog to see the full scope of our offering

References

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10. What is included in a full thyroid panel? Paloma Health. February 24, 2025. Accessed November 26, 2025. https://www.palomahealth.com/learn/full-thyroid-panel.
11. Hucklebridge F, Hussain T, Evans P, et al. The diurnal patterns of the adrenal steroids cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA) in relation to awakening. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2005;30(1):51-57. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2004.04.007.
12. Salivary cortisol testing. Natural Endocrinology Specialists. June 26, 2024. Accessed November 26, 2025. https://www.nesaz.com/salivary-cortisol-testing/.
13. Hormones. Medix Biochemica. Accessed November 26, 2025. https://info.medixbiochemica.com/hormones.