What Is Hcg Pregnancy Test?

A blood test for total hCG is used to diagnose pregnancy early when the test strip is not yet able to determine the result. In the absence of pathologies, the hormone level in the first weeks of pregnancy doubles every 2 days, the maximum is reached by 10-11 weeks.

It is recommended to conduct the study no earlier than 3-6 days of delay in menstruation in order to avoid false negative results. In case of questionable results, the test should be performed twice with an interval of 2-3 days. When determining the completeness of the removal of an ectopic pregnancy or abortion, a test for hCG is performed 1-2 days after the operation, to exclude a false positive result.

The study is carried out in the morning on an empty stomach. At least 8 hours should pass from the last meal.

How To Decipher A Blood Test For Hcg?

For different categories of patients, the normal level of hCG is individual. It is possible to decipher the analysis on your own, but the reliability of your conclusions will be questionable. In any case, a specialist should diagnose the result.

Consider the normative values:

  1. In healthy men, the level of hCG in the blood should be in the range of up to 2.5 mU / ml.
  2. In healthy women who are not carrying a child, the test result will show from 0 to 5 mU / ml

For pregnant women, the result of a study of human chorionic gonadotropin changes literally every 1-2 weeks: 

  • in the 1st week, it ranges from 20 to 150 mU / ml;
  • on the 2-3rd week it grows from 100 to 4870 mU / ml;
  • at week 4, the result is approximately 2500–82,000 mU / ml;
  • at the 5th week, the level of hCG in the blood can reach 151,000 IU / ml;
  • at the 6th week of fetal development, the upper indicator can be 233,000 IU / ml;
  • indicators 7-10 weeks – 20,900-291,000 mU / ml;
  • by the 16th week, the hCG level falls and can range from 6150 to 103000 mU / ml;
  • by the 20th week in the analysis of a pregnant woman, hCG values ​​range from 4730 to 80,000 mU / ml;
  • from 21 to 39 weeks, the interval of indicators is 2700–78000 mU / ml.

It should be borne in mind that the norms of research centers may differ. Therefore, it is recommended to contact the same laboratory where the examination was carried out for decoding the analysis results.