Ross Township · Pittsburgh's North Hills · Precision Diagnostics
Hormone Testing. Data before guesswork.
The DUTCH test (sex and adrenal hormones, melatonin, and their metabolites across a full day), collected at home, interpreted in person. With Melissa Kolowitz, PA-C.
The Approach
Test what matters. Then act on it.
A hormone panel is only as useful as the clinical reading behind it. At Aetheria, testing is never a product you buy and decode alone: Melissa orders the panel that fits your symptoms, reviews the full report with you in person, and turns the findings into a plan, or tells you plainly when a different test, or a referral, is the better path.
Clinical Summary
Hormone testing at Aetheria is built around the DUTCH test (the Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones), an at-home panel measuring sex hormones, adrenal hormones, melatonin, and their metabolites across a full 24-hour rhythm. The DUTCH Complete panel also includes urinary indican, a marker that can flag intestinal dysbiosis and protein digestion concerns, and maps the daily cortisol curve, so stress and gut function are read together rather than in isolation. Collection happens at home on dried filter paper; results are reviewed in person with Melissa Kolowitz, PA-C, who orders the test and turns findings into a concrete plan: peptides, nutrition, supplements, or referral when indicated. It suits adults whose symptoms have outrun routine labs, and anyone building a metabolic health plan from data. Individual results vary.
What the DUTCH Panel Measures
One panel, read together.
Sex hormones & metabolites
Estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone alongside their downstream metabolites: not just how much hormone you make, but how your body processes it.
Adrenal & stress markers
The full daily cortisol curve rather than a single morning snapshot. The DUTCH Plus panel adds the Cortisol Awakening Response for a closer look at stress resilience.
Melatonin & sleep rhythm
Overnight melatonin output, read against the cortisol curve, useful context when sleep quality, energy dips, and mood are part of the picture.
The gut marker: indican
Urinary indican is produced when intestinal bacteria break down tryptophan. Elevated levels can flag dysbiosis, incomplete protein digestion, or gut permeability concerns.
"One panel, four lenses: production, processing, rhythm, and the gut."
Candidacy
Who this is for.
You're probably a great candidate if:
Your symptoms have outrun routine labs (persistent fatigue, sleep disruption, mood shifts, stubborn weight, cycle irregularities), or you want a data baseline before starting peptide therapy or a metabolic health program. You can follow a simple 24-hour at-home collection schedule and want results interpreted by a clinician who knows your history.
Let's talk first if:
Your primary concern is a direct microbiome analysis: bacterial balance, parasites, gut inflammation. The DUTCH test offers only an indirect glance at the gut through indican; a GI-MAP stool test is the right tool for that question, and our gut health page covers it. Likewise if your symptoms suggest a condition that needs direct medical workup first (testing never replaces evaluation).
"The right test answers the question you actually have. Sometimes that test is not ours."
How Testing Works
From collection to plan.
Consultation.
A conversation about your symptoms, history, medications, and goals, with an honest assessment of whether testing will tell us something useful. If a different test fits better, Melissa says so.
At-home collection.
You collect a few drops of urine on filter paper at set times across a 24-hour period, let the samples dry, and mail them to the lab. No blood draw, no extra office visit.
Lab analysis.
The lab maps your hormones, metabolites, daily cortisol rhythm, and the indican gut marker. Results typically return within a few weeks.
Results become a plan.
You review the full report with Melissa in person. Findings turn into a concrete plan: peptides, nutrition, supplement support, or referral when something deserves further evaluation.
A note from Melissa
A note on functional testing, honestly.
Functional hormone testing has a hype problem. Panels get sold as products, results arrive as a PDF, and patients are left matching colored bars to supplement bottles. That is not clinical care. A DUTCH report is genuinely rich (metabolite pathways, cortisol rhythm, the gut marker), and it does its best work in a clinical reading: your symptoms, your history, your medications, and what we are actually trying to learn.
So testing at Aetheria starts with the question, not the kit. Sometimes the answer is the DUTCH Complete. Sometimes it is the Plus panel with the Cortisol Awakening Response. Sometimes it is a comprehensive stool analysis ordered instead, or standard labs first, or a referral. The test is a tool; the consultation is the care.
Individual results vary. Testing is informational and is interpreted in clinical context; it is not a diagnosis by itself, and findings outside our scope are referred appropriately.
What patients say
In their words.
Melissa did a wonderful job listening to my goals and helping me determine what services were right for me. She could have easily convinced me to do more, but she was honest and only suggested what I truly needed.
Had a wonderful consultation with the owner, Melissa. She took her time and walked me through all her services and answered my questions without trying to oversell me.
Common Questions
Straight answers.
What patients ask before booking.
What is the DUTCH test?
DUTCH stands for Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones. It is an at-home panel that measures sex hormones, adrenal hormones, melatonin, and their metabolites from a few drops of dried urine collected over a 24-hour period. Because it captures metabolites and daily rhythm rather than a single blood-draw moment, it gives a fuller picture of how your body produces and processes hormones. At Aetheria, the test is ordered and reviewed in person by Melissa Kolowitz, PA-C, who builds a plan from the findings.
Does the DUTCH test evaluate gut health?
Partly. The DUTCH Complete panel includes urinary indican, a byproduct created when intestinal bacteria break down the amino acid tryptophan. Elevated indican can point to intestinal dysbiosis, incomplete protein digestion, or gut permeability concerns. The panel also maps how cortisol moves through your day, and because stress directly disrupts digestive function, the adrenal and gut markers are read together. For a direct look at the gut microbiome, pathogens, and barrier function, GI-MAP stool testing is the right tool, offered on our gut health page.
How does the at-home collection work?
You collect a few drops of urine on special filter paper at specific times across a 24-hour period, let the samples dry, and mail them to the lab. There is no blood draw, and collection itself requires no office visit. Once the lab releases results, you review them with Melissa at a follow-up visit, where the findings become a concrete plan rather than a report you are left to interpret alone.
Who should consider hormone testing?
Adults dealing with persistent fatigue, sleep disruption, mood shifts, stubborn weight, cycle irregularities, low libido, or a general sense that something is off that routine labs have not explained. Testing is also a useful baseline before starting peptide therapy or a metabolic health program, so your plan is built from data rather than guesswork. Whether testing is appropriate, and which panel, is decided at consultation.
Do I need a provider to order the DUTCH test?
Yes. The DUTCH test is ordered through a qualified healthcare provider who can interpret the results and build a plan from them. At Aetheria, testing is ordered and reviewed in person by Melissa Kolowitz, PA-C, and the findings feed directly into your broader plan, whether that involves peptides, nutritional support, a metabolic program, or a referral when something deserves further medical evaluation.
What happens after I get my results?
You and Melissa review the full report together at a follow-up visit: hormone production and metabolite patterns, the daily cortisol curve, and the gut marker. From there the findings become a plan, which may include peptide therapy, nutritional and supplement support, lifestyle adjustments, or follow-up testing, with a timeline for reassessment. Individual results vary, and any finding outside our scope is referred appropriately.
Want the deep dive? Read the complete DUTCH testing guide →
Start with data.
Hormone testing at Aetheria Aesthetics & Wellness begins with a consultation. We serve patients across Ross Township and Pittsburgh's North Hills, including Wexford, Cranberry Township, Sewickley, and Mars.