Thriva is launching three new at-home blood tests to empower women with actionable insights about their hormonal health and to provide a solution to the “information gap” on women’s health.
Created by an all-female team of clinicians within Thriva, the at-home finger-prick blood tests offer health insights related to general hormonal health, PCOS, fertility insights and post-birth wellbeing.
Thriva’s in-house data science and clinical teams analysed its data and found that, over the last 12 months women have reported increasing levels of stress, fatigue, BMI and hormonal changes. The overall average level of Oestrogen (oestradiol) amongst Thriva customers has increased by 50% and those reporting stomach pain related symptoms has doubled since Jan 2020.
Consumer research conducted on behalf of Thriva also found that one in three women experience symptoms related to hormonal health once a week or more – with sleep disturbance (65%), mood changes (47%) and bloating (43%) being most common. Over a third of women also experience a reduced sex drive once a week or more. Yet up to 80% of these women don’t talk to their GP, instead choosing to “do nothing” about it or “suffer in silence”.
From March ‘20 to Sept ‘20 health testing that occurs in primary care (such as blood tests) fell by 80% and Thriva’s research shows that nearly a third of women have put off seeing their doctor because of the pandemic.
Dr Sumera Shahaney, head of clinical operations at Thriva led the development of the new tests.
She said: “As the recent Government announcement shows, there is a damaging level of female under-representation in both scientific studies and health datasets which has led, over time, to poor outcomes for women. We see very low awareness of female-specific health issues and much worse, a lack of support for women facing hormonal health conditions. The pandemic has only served to exacerbate this issue.
“This is just the start of our journey to support all women get on the front foot with their health. We want Thriva to become the best place for women to turn to, to get support at every stage of their hormonal journey with personalised tests and actionable, evidence-based support.”
Thriva’s new tests include:
- PCOS – measures a range of hormones that can be imbalanced due to PCOS and helps monitor the longer-term risks associated with this condition.
- Fertility insights – measures a range of hormones and nutrients that can help prepare for pregnancy.
- Post-birth – learn if you’re getting enough of the nutrients to support your energy levels after pregnancy
- Women’s hormones – understand if your sex hormones are in range and whether hormones could be causing mood changes, hot flushes, a low sex drive and more.
The launch of these tests also coincides with the UK Government’s new review into the provision and support of women’s health, in order to improve health and wellbeing and ensure health services are meeting the needs of women.
How the Women’s Hormones tests work
A sample is taken with a finger-prick test and sent back to an accredited lab. Results are shared in an online dashboard within 48 hours along with commentary, health plans and information to improve symptoms for different stages of a women’s life and help them get on the front foot.
