ArticlesBase.com - Free Articles Directory
Free Online Articles Directory
16.05.2008 Sign In Register Hello Guest
Email:
Password:
Remember Me 
forgot your password?


Pregnancy Tests - Home Pregnancy Test Overview

Author: Alien | Posted: 13-11-2007 | Comments: 0 | Views: 42 | Got a Question? Ask.
Sign Up Now!
Alien

If you think you are pregnant, you may want to test yourself at home with a home pregnancy test. You can buy test kits at a drug store without a prescription. Home use kits measure a hormone called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in your urine. However, these tests are qualitative, the results are either positive or negative for pregnancy. Many home pregnancy tests claim to be 99 percent accurate on the day you miss your period. It most home pregnancy tests don't consistently spot pregnancy this early, the tests are considered reliable when used according to package instructions one week after a missed period. The hormone is released in a pregnant woman's urine.

Home pregnancy tests and how they work

Home pregnancy tests measure the presence of a telltale hormone in your urine called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). This hormone, produced by cells from the placenta, first gets into your bloodstream when the fertilized egg implants in your uterus (on average 8 to 10 days after fertilization). The amount of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in your body then increases rapidly over the next few weeks, doubling in amount about every two days.

There are two main types of pregnancy tests. Both are commonly used to detect pregnancy.

Home pregnancy tests are available at your local drugstore or pharmacy and at some large department stores. Blood pregnancy tests are performed by health care professionals in an office or a clinic. Home pregnancy tests are usually about 97% accurate, but this varies from brand to brand. The amount of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) in your body then increases rapidly over the next few weeks, doubling in amount about every two days. HCG can also be detected in your blood, around 10 days after you conceive, and your GP may advise you to have a blood test.Pregnancy blood tests are performed health clinic. They detect pregnancy by measuring hCG levels in your blood. The most sensitive test of pregnancy is best performed by a laboratory using a sample of your blood.

Blood tests performed at your clinic have a 99% accuracy rate and can detect pregnancy earlier than most urine tests. Blood tests can be performed 7 days after you ovulate and still provide accurate results. Some urine tests can be used on the first day that your period is due, however, it is unlikely that you will achieve that 97% accuracy rate if you test so early. The quantitative blood test detects pregnancy by measuring the exact amount of hCG in your bloodstream. It can also be used to detect how far along you are in your pregnancy. It does not measure your hCG levels, and only provides a yes or no answer as to whether or not you are pregnant. Home pregnancy tests only check hCG levels, not progesterone. They are completely different hormones.

So how can all these tests claim to be accurate so early in pregnancy?

They don't. They only claim to be "greater than 99 percent accurate" in general, and then separately, they suggest that you can use them as early as the day you miss your period. According to the current Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations, in order to claim that a home pregnancy test is "greater than 99 percent accurate," the manufacturer only needs to demonstrate that the test performs as well in the lab as an existing test more than 99 percent of the time.

Rate this Article:

Article Tags: Home Pregnancy Tests

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/pregnancy-articles/pregnancy-tests-home-pregnancy-test-overview-258670.html

Print this Article Print article   Email to a Friend Send to friend   Publish this Article on your Website Publish this Article   Send Author Feedback Author feedback  
About the Author:

Read out for Pregnancy. Check out home remedies and freckles

Submitting articles has become one of the most popular means of generating quality backlinks and targeted traffic to your website. Join us today - It's Free!

Article Comments

Comment on this article Comment on this article
Your Name
Your Email:
Comment Body
Enter Validation Code: Captcha


Related Articles

New Pregnancy - Identifying Symptoms
By: Apurva Shree | 12/01/2007 | Health
Though most married women will like to experience and enjoy a new pregnancy, very few know about different symptoms which can be taken to be indicative of conception. The most common symptom to identify possible pregnancy is a missed period. But if you do not keep track of your menstrual cycle or if it varies widely from one month to the next, you may not be sure when to expect your period. In such situations other symptoms may become your indicators to pregnancy. The final evidence of your pregnancy will be provided only by a home pregnancy test. However you should note that home pregnancy tests are not sensitive enough to detect most pregnancies until about a week after a missed period. So if you decide to take a test earlier than that and get a negative result, try again in a few days.

First Response Home Pregnancy Test
By: Apurva Shree | 09/02/2007 | Health
First response home pregnancy tests (HPTs) are designed to detect hCG, a hormone released by the placenta right after the embryo begins implanting into the uterine lining: the hormone is released in a pregnant woman's urine. HCG stands for human chorionic gonadotropin. Home pregnancy tests (HPTs) are designed to detect it. Detetcting hCG in the blood is how home pregnancy tests work.

New Pregnancy : Identifying Symptoms
By: Saurabh Jain | 01/05/2007 | Health
Though most married women will like to experience and enjoy a new pregnancy, very few know about different symptoms which can be taken to be indicative of conception.

Pregnancy Constipation – How to Get Rid of It?
By: Apurva Shree | 14/07/2007 | Health
The entire journey of pregnancy until you deliver the baby consists of the surfacing of several symptoms nausea; pregnancy constipation is one of those. Usually constipation refers to irregular bowel movements. This tends to linger through the early stages of pregnancy to the post delivery phase.

Got a Question? Ask.

Ask the community a question about this article:

Q&A Powered by:
Powered by Yedda 

Latest Pregnancy Articles

Is Morning Sickness a Good Thing for Your Pregnant Spouse?
By: Paul Banas | 14/05/2008
During her pregnancy, your spouse may suffer from morning sickness. This is quite normal. Here are some things you can do to help your partner cope better with morning sickness.

Summer Maternity Clothes and Nursing Clothes Fashions
By: Amy Jarman | 12/05/2008
Summer is here and you aren't sure what maternity clothes or nursing clothes to wear. Here area some great ideas to help you out!

Fashionable Summer Maternity Dresses
By: Amy Jarman | 12/05/2008
Look out for some really great summer maternity dresses. There is a large variety of stylish maternity clothes available for you when you are pregnant.

5 Myths for Predicting Your Baby's Sex
By: Julie | 12/05/2008
Here are five popular myths for predicting your baby’s gender.

8 Top Early Pregnancy Symptoms
By: Paul Banas | 09/05/2008
Find article on how early pregnant wife can experience pregnancy symptoms and signs. Find top 8 early pregnancy symptoms and signs.

Creative Ways to Tell Your Partner Your Expecting
By: Julie | 06/05/2008
Congrats your pregnant! Here are some innovating ideas on telling your partner you are expecting!

Ovulation Calculator - Determines Your Spouse's Fertility
By: Paul Banas | 06/05/2008
Are you Dad and planning to have a baby; an ovulation calculator is an excellent tool to help you increase your chances of a successful conception.

Steps to Finding a Good Pediatrician
By: Julie | 05/05/2008
Congrats your expecting! Now is the time to start looking for a pediatrician if you do not already have one.

More from Alien

Medical Treatments for Breast Cancer
By: Alien | 15/05/2008 | Cancer
Treatment varies according to the type and stage of cancer, but surgery remains the first choice for most tumors. The majority of operations now are less disfiguring than the radical mastectomy that was standard until the 1970s.

Breast Cancer - Diagnostic Studies and Procedures
By: Alien | 15/05/2008 | Cancer
Breast cancer is the most common malignancy in women, and second only to lung cancer in female cancer mortality. Presently, about one in nine American women develops this disease at some time in her life, compared to one in 17 in 1950.

How to Climb Up the Fitness Ladder
By: Alien | 15/05/2008 | Sports and Fitness
Ever since we recommended walking, jogging, inchstepping, cycling and swimming as excellent aerobic activities in our fitness columns, we have been inundated with calls from readers asking us several questions.

Developing Your Anti-aging Workout Routine
By: Alien | 15/05/2008 | Sports and Fitness
It's now time to design your sample weekly fitness program. Decide on which days you'll exercise and on which you'll rest. Decide which activities you'll do on each day and for how long.

Pelvic Floor Exercises
By: Alien | 15/05/2008 | Fitness
An inability to control urine flow as we age can be a socially embarrassing problem, but it can be managed. Stress incontinence - the loss of urine when you cough, sneeze, laugh or jump ­ is generally a result of a weakening of the pelvic floor muscles.

Indoor Inch-stepping
By: Alien | 15/05/2008 | Fitness
You probably have been wondering: What in heavens does it mean! It is a word we have coined because we feel it fits the activity to a T.

Balance Training and Balance Exercises
By: Alien | 15/05/2008 | Fitness
Falls and impaired mobility are a serious problem for our aging population. The good news is that much of the decline in balance can be reversed through a program of balance training.

Herbal Weight Loss Supplements
By: Alien | 15/05/2008 | Supplements and Vitamins
It is normal to contrast the outcomes and security of herbal weight loss supplements to their medical contradicts fractions. One might rationally take for granted that the herbal supplements are in any case securer and include less reaction.

Article Categories



Creative Commons License




Give Feedback

Sign up for our email newsletter

Receive updates, enter your email below