Educational information only. At Precursor, blood testing is requested and reviewed by a clinician and considered alongside your history and other markers, not as a stand-alone diagnosis. Testing is performed in NATA-accredited laboratories to ISO 15189 standards.

What is PTH?

PTH, or parathyroid hormone, is made by four small glands in your neck and is the main controller of calcium in your body. It works with vitamin D to raise blood calcium when it drops, drawing on bone, gut and kidneys to keep levels steady.

Why it matters

PTH is the hormone that explains many calcium results. Reading PTH and calcium together lets a clinician tell whether a calcium abnormality is being driven by the parathyroid glands, by vitamin D, or by something else, which is central to understanding bone and mineral health.

What your results can mean

Higher than optimal

A high PTH can reflect the glands working overtime, sometimes in response to low vitamin D or low calcium, and sometimes from the glands themselves. It is always read alongside calcium.

Lower than optimal

A low PTH is interpreted in relation to your calcium level, and points a clinician toward particular causes worth exploring.

Reference ranges in Australia

PTH is reported in picomoles per litre (pmol/L), with laboratory-specific reference ranges, and is best interpreted together with a calcium measured at the same time. Read your result against your own report and with a clinician.

Test your bone and mineral health with Precursor

PTH only makes sense alongside calcium and vitamin D. At Precursor, this testing is requested and reviewed by a clinician within Full Advanced Bloods, a single draw covering your bone, vitamins, kidney and other markers together, so your mineral balance is read in full context.