What does LH hormone levels indicate?

The hormone LH plays an important role in ensuring a healthy reproductive system. To be able to control your reproductive health, obstetricians recommend that you learn about this hormone.

In the body of both men and women, this hormone plays a very important role to ensure that the reproductive system can function properly.
LH hormone is produced and secreted in the anterior pituitary gland. This hormone is considered a gonadal hormone because it plays a role in controlling the function of the ovaries in women and the testes in men.
In women, the hormone LH stimulates the ovaries to produce oestradiol. When LH levels rise mid-cycle, ovulation occurs. If fertilization occurs, luteinizing hormone stimulates the corpus luteum, which produces progesterone to sustain the pregnancy.
For men, luteinizing hormone stimulates testosterone production from Leydig cells in the testicles. Testosterone in turn stimulates sperm production and accentuates male sex characteristics – like a deep voice or hair and hair growth.

LH is a hormone that helps ensure the safety of your reproductive system: Specifically the ovaries in women and testes in men. This hormone is produced in the pituitary gland, which is about the size of a pea and located just behind your nose.
The main reasons you might have an LH test are to check for female or male infertility, to check for pituitary problems.
Your doctor may also test your follicle-stimulating hormone aka FSH at the same time when:
Symptoms other than infertility that may prompt your doctor to order this test include irregular menstrual cycles Menstruation, menstrual cycle does not occur, low testosterone level in men, low sex drive in men, low muscle mass in a man. Signs that you may have a pituitary disorder include fatigue, unexplained weight loss, muscle weakness, and loss of appetite.

If you're trying to get pregnant, your doctor may want you to have multiple LH tests to determine exactly when your body ovulates. At that time, the amount of LH hormone in your blood will increase.
Doctors also order LH testing when a boy or girl has not entered puberty as expected, or seems to be entering puberty earlier than usual. Low LH levels cause delayed puberty, and conversely high levels cause early puberty. Signs of precocious puberty include the start of menstruation, breast and pubic hair development in girls; Penile and testicular growth in boys.

You do not need to do anything special to prepare for this test. Your healthcare provider will draw your blood for testing. First, the specialist will disinfect the injection site with alcohol. You will need an elastic band to wrap around the upper part of your arm. To take a sample, a healthcare provider will inject a needle into a vein in your arm and attach a tube to let blood out. You may feel a sharp pain when the needle is inserted. When the tube is full, the technician or nurse will remove the needle and apply a bandage or cotton ball to the injection site to stop the bleeding. This whole thing only takes a few minutes. You may feel lightheaded after the test and your hand may also appear bruised from the blood draw.

In women: High levels of LH in a woman's blood can be a sign of primary ovarian failure. Low LH levels can be a sign of secondary ovarian failure, which means a problem with the pituitary gland or the hypothalamus (part of the brain). In men: In men, high levels of LH in the blood are a sign of testicular problems. Low LH levels mean a problem with the pituitary gland or the hypothalamus. People with high levels of luteinizing hormone may be infertile, because the hormone directly affects the reproductive system. In women, excessively high levels of the hormone LH are often associated with polycystic ovary syndrome, which produces inappropriate testosterone levels. Certain genetic conditions, like Turner syndrome or Klinefelter syndrome, can also cause high levels of the hormone. People with these conditions often cannot have children.
Low levels of luteinizing hormone can also cause infertility, as insufficient levels limit sperm production or ovulation. Too little luteinizing hormone will stop ovulation in women or create a deficiency in gonadotrophin-releasing hormone (GnRH) secretion in men.
It can be said that testing LH hormone levels has an important role to check reproductive function. When you see that your body has abnormal signs, you should go for an LH test to be checked by a doctor and come up with a timely treatment plan.

Article reference source: Webmd.com; Hormones.org