Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG)
Hormone markersWhat the test generally measures, and what to ask about it.
Longetic keeps every lab and record you’ve had organized and easy to find, so your own Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG) values sit together on one chart and you walk into your next appointment prepared.
What is Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG)?
A protein made mostly by the liver that binds sex hormones like testosterone and estrogen and controls how much of them is active.
SHBG attaches to sex hormones in your bloodstream, and hormones bound to it are not free to act on your tissues, so SHBG helps set how much testosterone and estrogen is available. It is often measured alongside total testosterone to estimate how much is actually active. Lower SHBG can be associated with an underactive thyroid, insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes, obesity, or PCOS; higher SHBG can be associated with liver disease, an overactive thyroid, or estrogen-containing medicines. SHBG also tends to drift down with age, and results are read together with other hormone tests.
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References
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