ZRT Laboratory
Portland, Oregon

We are all familiar with medical laboratories that do testing to help doctors help their patients better understand their bodies' metabolic processes, from cholesterol to liver and kidney function.

Recently, we were able to step inside the highly state-of-the-art, professional and sterile world of ZRT Laboratory. This Portland-based facility is ground zero for deeply personal testing for men and women.

Dr. David Zava, Ph.D. created the lab out of sheer frustration in search of a greater understanding of breast cancer and how menopause and lifestyles affect a woman’s aging body.

Dr. Zava, a biochemist and cancer researcher, is a widely sought after speaker by professional medical associations and institutes on the hormonal links to breast cancer. He has no qualms about putting it right on the line as he did in his book What You’re Doctor May Not Tell You About Breast Cancer: How Hormone Balance Can Help Save Your Life.

We have come so far in our ability to access our physical metabolic condition. It is important that the aging women take advantage of these types of tests.

“Women need to have an attitude when it comes to the health care,” Dr. Zava said during our interview in the lab. "We have come so far in our ability to access our physical metabolic condition. It is important that aging women take advantage of these types of tests to improve their long-term wellness.

Dr. Zava founded ZRT Laboratory in 1998 with the sole purpose of gaining a more in-depth understanding about the aging woman, in particular about breast cancer at the tissue level. The testing utilizes advanced methodology in saliva, blood spot, and dried urine to determine specific hormone levels. such as estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, cortisol, and thyroid hormones among others. The convenient all-in-one test kit allows for home collection of samples at optimal times which can then be mailed directly to the lab for analysis.

ZRT's test results go well beyond the numbers to provide timely information more relevant to one's personal health history, symptoms and imbalances. From there, doctor and patient can discuss an individualized treatment plan to help balance out hormone levels and enhance aging.