How 3 Start-Ups Are Furthering At-Home Health Care

Our homes have become our gyms, our offices, and our spas, so it’s no surprise that, with the surge of at-home testing kits, they’re also pivoting to become our de facto health care practices as well. Though it’s a trend stoked by the pandemic, it’s one that seems likely to stick around even when we find ourselves less homebound: Convenient and crafted to be extremely consumer-friendly, telehealth services and evidence-based direct-to-consumer health brands don’t appear to be going anywhere. A McKinsey report last year found that COVID-19 had spurred a massive uptick in telehealth services, estimating that, post-pandemic, up to $250 billion of U.S. health care spending could be virtualized—a statistic that’s especially promising for at-home testing companies like Everylywell, which offers tests for everything from fertility to thyroid to STDs. “Eventually, at-home lab testing will be another readily used tool, similar to your health-tracking wearables, that helps us optimize for a well-rounded healthy lifestyle in a more individualized way,” says Lola Priego, the CEO and founder of blood test company Base. Here, three companies which make a compelling case for the home test.

Stix

When Jamie Norwood and Cynthia Plotch first cofounded Stix in 2019, they were focused on conception, launching with pregnancy and ovulation tests. But as their company grew, the pair realized that they wanted to grow their offerings too. “We found that our no-judgement approach to sensitive health attracted an equal split of customers trying to conceive and trying not to conceive,” explains Plotch. “So we sought to find a moment that effected both of those segments and that was also overlooked in the market.” What they landed on? UTIs (urinary tract infections), which occur when bacteria enters the urinary system through the urethra and tend to be most common during three time periods: high sexual activity (often when people are trying to conceive); during pregnancy (the baby can put pressure on the bladder, trapping bacteria in the urinary tract); and after menopause when estrogen levels dip and there is less protection against infection. The issue is one that 60% of people with vaginas will contend with at least once their lifetime; 12 to 24% will experience them in a recurring way. And it’s one that can have serious consequences. “According to the Mayo Clinic, untreated UTIs can lead to recurrent infections, permanent kidney damage, increased risk in pregnant women of delivering low-birth-weight or premature infants, and sepsis, a potentially life-threatening complication, especially if the infection works its way up your urinary tract to your kidneys,” explains Plotch. Which is what happened to actress Tanya Roberts; she died in January at only 65 after a UTI turned into sepsis. Stix’s trio of UTI products are aimed, says Plotch, at detecting, alleviating pain, and protecting against future infections. “Our UTI tests are FDA-certified, doctor-approved, easy-to-use, and clinically tested to detect common strains,” she adds. Their UTI daily protection supplement and pain-relief pack were designed and approved by urologists; the former uses ingredients like D-mannose, cranberry, vitamin C, and turmeric, while the latter temporarily alleviates discomfort, burning, urgency, and frequency. And, like any solid modern health venture, Stix offers a symptom tracker too.

Base

“Get your blood work.” It’s a directive frequently uttered by doctors and nutritionists. And rightfully so: Our blood is perhaps the best revealer of what’s going on in our bodies, allowing health care professionals to better treat an issue’s root cause. That idea is the founding principle of Base, a company that aims to make keeping tabs on our blood (and, often, saliva too) a very regular part of our routines. Unlike how Theranos was trying to compete with labs, Base partners with third-party CLIA-certified labs like Quest Diagnostics to distribute their FDA-approved collection materials. “Blood tests improve your day-to-day, and they can save your life,” says Priego. “The basic metabolic panel checks kidney, heart, and liver function by measuring glucose, calcium, and electrolyte levels. A lipoprotein panel tells you what’s happening with your diet and energy, checking levels of fats in your blood like ‘good’ cholesterol (HDL), ‘bad’ cholesterol (LDL), and triglycerides.” Retrieval (a fingertip prick) is quick and simple, and it uses a DBS (dried blood spot) method, which is known both for accuracy and for its ability to test for essential biomarkers. Besides sharing results and continually recording your levels, Base also transforms your data into a plan and offers recommendations that align with whichever core area, or areas, (sleep, stress, diet, energy, or sex drive) you’re focused on improving or monitoring. The most popular test areas for new users right now? Diet, sleep, and sex drive. “Some users also want to understand their health in the context of COVID-19 risks, which has been seen to have an impact on your thyroid and cortisol levels, for example,” adds Priego. And its system plays well with other popular trackers like the Oura Ring or Fitbit. “What those trackers give you is superficial data through your body’s surface, pulse, or detected motion, so Base results give you even more clarity into what those trackers are telling you,” says Priego. Her hope is that Base will ultimately have a broader impact. “The more people know about their health, the more honest the wellness industry and health world will have to be,” she explains of their goal of making lab data far more accessible. “When people are fluent with their own data and know how things impact their bodies, they can identify what’s misleading.”

Thryve

While the company has been around since 2016, with the gut microbiome ever more frequently part of the wellness conversation, Thryve is, well, thriving. As we continue to learn, the microbiome’s impact isn’t limited to our digestion; it’s also responsible for maintaining our metabolism, heart, weight, skin, immune system, and energy levels, among other things. “Our microbiome consists of 30 to 50 trillion microorganisms in our gut, while the human body is made up of 37 million human cells,” explains Thryve founder Richard Lin. “Science has discovered that our microbiome essentially acts as an organ in our body’s function.” And multiple types of chronic illness can be traced back to an imbalance of those microbes. Two areas that can be particularly impacted by the microbiome, says Lin, are the brain and the skin, which is why the gut-brain and gut-skin axis are becoming a more common part of our vernacular. “Your gut houses 95% of the serotonin (the happy chemical) in the body, and the other 5% is found in your brain,” he says. “The associations between mood disorders and gut health is a growing area of research, and in recent studies, probiotics reduced pro-inflammatory cytokines, normalized cortisol levels, and presented benefits over therapeutic drugs to treat common mood imbalances.” As for the skin, the connection between gut health and inflammatory skin conditions like eczema, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, acne, and rosacea is long-standing, but more recent research is showing how a healthy gut can also improve skin’s lipid content and moisture. Using gut microbiome analysis and sequencing technology, Thryve’s goal is to provide users with data about their gut—everything from food intolerances to metabolism to sleep hormones (all via an app, naturally)—then create bespoke probiotics to be sent, along with nutritional recommendations. Its method, a stool sample, may make some squeamish, but it only requires a bit from toilet paper to provide enough material for testing, so the ick factor is negligible—and, considering the breadth of results, entirely worth it. It is getting your shit together in the most literal sense.