HCG – The Facts to be Known

The levels of HCG forms an information input about the pregnancy, but various details should be known before one trust them completely. The doctor should be a better judge with the usage of other forms of testing.

The human chorionic gonadotropin commonly known as HCG is a hormone which is produced during pregnancy. It is formed by the cells that nourishes and protect the egg by attaching itself to the wall of the uterine. Levels of HCG during pregnancy can be detected after 11 days of conception through a blood test and through a urine test from 12 -14 days after conception. The level of HCG keeps varying during the period of pregnancy. Generally it is known to double itself every seventy two hour till the first eight to eleven weeks when it reaches the highest level. Post this period it starts declining.

There are several key facts that one should know about the changing levels of HCG. Firstly in a normal pregnancy when in the beginning the level doubles every 48 or 72 hours towards the later stages it may take as much as 96 hours to double. Secondly, the pregnancy should not be judged alone on the levels of HCG. A normal pregnancy with a low HCG can also have a very healthy baby. Methods like ultrasound should be trusted more for this purpose. The HCG level is measured in milli international units per milliliter (mlU/ml). Anything below 5 mlU/ml is considered negative for pregnancy and anything above 25 mlU/ml is positive. The pregnancy can be confirmed once the HCG level crosses 200 mlU/ml and before this no ultrasound methods must be used. When the level is below this the date of conception cannot be clearly defined. A single testing of the HCG is not an evidence enough to know the health of the pregnancy.

Multiple tests need to be done to get a clearer and appropriate status of the pregnancy. Using the HCG the pregnancy cannot be dated as these numbers may vary widely. The tests of HCG can be done to check its presence in the blood which is called the qualitative test or to check the amount of it present in the blood called the quantitative test. The doctors do not use HCG as a common way to test during pregnancy unless some extreme signs of in normality exist.

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Tanzania Scott writes informative and unique articles about HCG.

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