Sleep Balance Test Kit

You’ll need to submit the test kit to the ZRT laboratory. Once the test has been received, results can be expected within 5 to 7 business days.

Sleep is an incredibly important natural function of the body. Melatonin is the sleep hormone that your body produces naturally to help regulate your patterns of sleep. Your body makes melatonin as a direct response to darkness to induce feelings of calm and quiet, and when the sun rises your body decreases its levels of melatonin. Some of the symptoms of low melatonin include insomnia, sleep disturbance, waking too early, and long-term sleep disturbances that may lead to delirium. ^[1]de Rooij, S., and van Munster, B., (2013). Rejuvenation Research, 16(4), 273-278. https://doi.org/10.1089/rej.2012.1405

Because our bodies are greatly affected by light and darkness, melatonin is an incredibly important component for falling and staying asleep. Melatonin regulates the body’s circadian rhythm, which is our 24-hour biological clock that operates to help regulate and operate the different functions of the body. Melatonin is part of that biological clock, and the levels of melatonin can change sleep patterns in many different kinds of people. ^[2]Zisapel, N. (2018, January 10). New perspectives on the role of melatonin in human sleep, circadian rhythms, and their regulation. British Journal of Pharmacology 175(16). … Continue reading

Melatonin doesn’t stay in the system for a long time. It has a relatively short half-life, about 40 to 60 minutes. A half-life of a drug is the amount of time it takes for that drug’s value to be reduced by half in your system. It generally takes 4 or 5 half-lives for your body to eliminate that drug altogether. This means that melatonin generally stays in your system for up to 5 hours, and if you’re awake during these hours, you’re more likely to feel drowsy.^[3]University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, (2018). One in four Americans develop insomnia each year: 75 percent of those with insomnia recover. ScienceDaily. Retrieved June 5, 2022, from … Continue reading

Using the ZRT Kit, you can test your melatonin levels. You’ll take urine samples at four different times a day that will represent the highs and lows of both cortisol and melatonin production in the body. Innovative testing removes the need to test in the middle of the night. Once you complete the collections, you can expect to get your results within 5 to 7 days of the receipt of the test.

While many of us may suffer from short-term sleeplessness, one in four Americans suffer from insomnia each year, and 25% of these develop chronic insomnia. Some of the negative effects of chronic insomnia and sleeplessness may include depression, diabetes, obesity, anxiety, and many more. ^[4]National Academy of Health Sciences (2006). Extent and Health Consequences of Chronic Sleep Loss and Sleep Disorders. Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Problem. Retrieved … Continue reading Adverse effects occur on not only the nervous system, but also the cardiovascular system, immune system, and endocrine system. These are all incredibly important systems to the body, and without their full function, very negative effects may occur.

A ZRT kit will help you to test your circadian rhythm. It will test cortisol levels in the urine that are connected to circadian rhythms. Those suffering from sleep disturbances and chronic insomnia may learn how the different levels of cortisol and melatonin can affect how you sleep. ^[5]Cardinali, D. P., Srinivasan, V., Brzezinski, A., & Brown, G. M. (2012, May). Melatonin and its analogs in insomnia and depression. Journal of Pineal Research, 52(4), 365-375. … Continue reading Low levels of melatonin directly affect our ability to sleep and our sleep quality, while cortisol levels, the stress hormone, are disturbed with poor sleep. Both cortisol and melatonin help to regulate your body’s sleep cycle.

Cortisol is one of the chemicals that helps regulate sleep. When sleep is restless or disturbed, levels of cortisol may rise due to the stress of the cycle disruption. When levels of cortisol are higher than normal, many different systems may be under stress. Some things that may be affected are blood pressure, muscle weakness, mood swings, and mental health conditions like anxiety or depression.