What is luteinizing hormone? It’s a hormone released by your pituitary gland. In females, luteinizing hormone’s function is to regulate menstrual cycle, induce ovulation (in concert with follicle stimulation hormone), prepare uterus for fertilized egg implant, and stimulate ovaries to produce estrogen and progesterone. In males, the function of this hormone is to activate the testes to produce testosterone for sperm generation.
Because luteinizing hormone surges to induce ovulation, checking this hormone level via a urine sample for a marked increase is a strong indication you are ovulating. This test helps you time your attempt at getting pregnant. In addition, testing the levels of luteinizing hormone assists in evaluating:
- infertility
- low sperm count
- precocious or delayed puberty
- menstruation issues ~ irregular, amenorrhea, menopause
A variety of health conditions can have an affect on luteinizing hormone levels, for instance:
- PCOS
- anorchia
- ovarian cysts
- ovarian failure
- hypogonadism
- hypopituitarism
- Turner syndrome
- Klinefelter syndrome
- multiple endocrine neoplasia
If you and your mate are having trouble getting pregnant, your health care provider will likely check for abnormal levels of luteinizing hormone in an effort to figure out why.
