Hello! I have been a doctor for 21 years. My name is Georgy Olegovich Sapego. In this article I will talk about home pregnancy tests.
These tests are bought at a pharmacy or even a supermarket. They are quite accurate, but if you get a positive result, you will still need to confirm it at a gynecologist's appointment and an ultrasound scan, and even a blood test in addition.
Everything is much more interesting with negative home tests. These results are often falselynegative. That is, some have already calmed down, and then the belly began to grow.
Too early (come back in a week)
This happens if the test is done too early from the expected period. Not everything is simple there with hormones, so when you get a negative result it is better to repeat the test in a week.
Different tests
There are cool tests, but there are simpler ones. Some are basically unable to detect low levels of hCG.
What is HCG? it chorionic gonadotropin - a hormone that both men and non-pregnant women have in microscopic quantities. During pregnancy, hCG becomes abundant and can be found in blood or urine.
The steepness of home tests is assessed by their ability to detect pregnancy on the first day of delay. The coolest ones determine 97% of pregnancies, and those that are simpler - only 50-60%.
Maybe in two weeks?
Maybe so. Women whose cycle is irregular begin to panic ahead of time and then pick out their veins in search of HCG in the blood. In order not to make unnecessary injections, such ladies are offered to repeat the home test.
Some people do not always understand whether it was monthly or not. With reasonable suspicions, it is more correct to count 14 days from the last contact and then do the test.
Hook effect
A hook is a characteristic form of graph that is found in various fields of knowledge.
If there is too much CG, then with some research the chance of finding it is reduced.
This is due to antibodies. For the analysis, two types of specially sharpened antibodies are used. It's easier to imagine this using the example of two kids with ice cream.
Kids with ice cream
Two kids are two types of antibodies, and ice cream is CG. If you give the kids ice cream each, then they will take hold of the handles and happy will go together, eating their ice cream. This pretty picture means a positive test.
Now imagine that two kids were given a bunch of ice cream. They grabbed him in both hands and will no longer be able to take each other by the arms. The picture is sad. The test is negative.
In fact, an excess amount of hCG is more often not during pregnancy, but with some kind of tumors. It's also sad.
False positive result
It happens. The test is positive, but there is no pregnancy.
Most popular reasons:
- Some people are not smart enough to understand the result of their test.
- Biochemical pregnancy. That is, CG remained in the body, and the pregnancy itself had already been terminated. Nature terminates 25% of pregnancies early. This is normal.
- Oncology.
- Injections. No medications increase CG, but CG itself is used to treat infertility and to gain muscle in athletes. HCG is a gonadotropin, which in medical terms means "directed to the sex glands". In boys, it is also aimed at the sex glands. It stimulates the sex glands, and they produce a lot of sex hormones. It turns out to be a clever way to boost your own boy anabolics.
- After menopause, pituitary hCG increases in women. It is usually found not with home tests, but in the blood. But now we have people on every corner doing their own tests, so some older women may be surprised at their analyzes.
What is all this for?
A young girl yesterday asked questions about the delay and all that. Better ask a real gynecologist. In this case, the Internet is not your assistant.
