When asking how do pregnancy tests work, you should know that they work by measuring the hCG or human chorionic gonadotropin levels of the body.
This is a hormone that is produced by the placenta. Women can use the tests when this hormone develops in the uterus i.e., about 6 days after fertilization.
Information about how does a pregnancy test work
It is important to know about the pregnancy tests that fertilization doesn’t necessarily take place on the day women have intercourse, and this is why it is best to wait with the pregnancy test until the first missed period. The truth is that the levels of the hormone double every two days, so you should wait about two weeks to take the test.
How actually the tests work?
The tests are able to give an accurate result through binding the hormone from blood or urine to the indicator that it uses.
The indicator binds only with this one of the hormones so there is no way for the others to cause a false positive result. Usually a pigment molecule is used as an indicator.
When using the more sensible tests and asking about the way that pregnancy tests work you should know that these are using radioactive or fluorescent molecule as the indicator, but in case of the over the counter tests there is no need to use such sensitive substances.
The women asking about how do pregnancy tests work should know that the results you get with these tests aren’t that different from the tests used by the doctors, still there may be differences. Don’t forget that the results may be more reliable if the test is done by a trained professional.
You may be thinking about the pregnancy test working principle of the tests using blood. Over time it has been proved that these are more sensitive than the urine tests because hCG gets into the blood faster than into the urine. When using urine, you should be using the morning urine that has more hormones.
False negative and false positive
The answer to the question how does a pregnancy test work should also take into consideration the different factors that could alter the results, such as antibiotics and birth control pills.
On the other hand, it is known that illegal drugs and alcohol don’t have any effect on the result.
The only drugs that could have an effect on how pregnancy tests work are the ones that come with hCG that are mostly meant to treat infertility. There are some tissues that could produce hCG as well if a woman isn’t pregnant, but usually these are too low to be recognized by the tests.
Another thing to know about how do pregnancy tests work is that in case an egg is fertilized that doesn’t necessarily have to lead to pregnancy. This is why it is possible to have a chemical positive but the pregnancy will not evolve. In case of some tests, the evaporation leaves a line that may look like a positive result.
Information regarding the results of a home pregnancy test also involves a time limit within which the results can be read and still offer an accurate result. There are some rumors according to which men could also have a positive result, but as you may know from a biological point of view, this is impossible.
It is known regarding how does a pregnancy test work that the hormone levels fluctuate over time, but these levels also vary from one woman to the other.
As you can see there is a lot to know about how pregnancy tests work.
