Laurie J. Pinkerton (pinker…@llnl.gov) wrote:
: I was wondering if anyone knows of an accurate pregnancy tests which can
: give results before a missed period???
I’m not sure what’s available over the counter, but doctors now have
pregnancy tests available in their offices that are accurate 7 to 10 days
after conception. They’re very reliable. Many family planning and
abortion clinics offer them for free. I know plenty of women with no
intention whatsoever of having an abortion who go to the local abortion
clinic for their pregnancy tests.
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Camilla Cracchiolo, RN cami…@primenet.com
Shrine of the Cybernetic Madonna BBS 213-766-1356
"We Hate Rush Limbaugh *and* Newt Gingrich With A Passion"
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Most OTC and lab test kits for pregnancy use antibodies specific for
beta-HCG. These antibodies also have an enzyme attached that will catalyze a
reaction causing a color change. These tests are pretty specific, although
sometimes not as sensitive. The most sensitive test is a quantitiative beta-
HCG assay, but thi$ co$t$ a lot. Beta-HCG is present in the female body in low
levels, and rises rapidly after conception. There is a window of roughly 7
days in which the beta-HCG produced by conception is largely indistinguishable
from the normal amount made in a non-pregnant female (though a true positive
can be seen sooner in a few instances). My advice would be to wait until you
are late, and then buy an OTC kit and test yourself. A week or two is not going
to make much difference, except for dealing with anxiety.
Pete Womack, MT(ASCP).
TimRe…@burton.demon.co.uk (Tim Reynolds) wrote:
> In article <pinkerton-120195131…@ib381a-2.llnl.gov>
> pinker…@llnl.gov "Laurie J. Pinkerton" writes:
> > I was wondering if anyone knows of an accurate pregnancy tests which can
> > give results before a missed period???
> The most accurate test possible is serum hCG; but this is only really positive
> after about 5 weeks (i.e. after the first missed period).
I developed AnswerPlus for Carter-Wallace and conducted clinical trials on
pregnancy tests for them. Modern OTC tests are sensitive to 50mIU
HCG, and this level is often present around the first day of the
expected menses. Given normal variability in menstrual cycles, it’s
difficult to predict when the missed day would be, but two weeks post
conception most morning urine samples will contain quite sufficient
analyte to yield a positive test with current tests.