It is said that health is wealth. This emphasizes the importance of our body’s resistance to stress and infections. One primary determinant of our reaction in this regard is cortisol.
This is a hormone with a significant responsibility to maintain blood sugar level, sustain smooth body performance and manage blood pressure levels. Doctors will always be interested in your cortisol levels as having inappropriate levels can cause damages to the body.
How important is Cortisol in Your Health
The adrenal glands produce cortisol. These glands are located in the upper region of your kidney. Cortisol is one of the primary determinants of how well your body reacts to external and internal stress factors. This hormone also determines how well your body processes the proteins you eat and carbohydrate metabolism.
Your cortisol levels will determine how well you enjoy life. This is why periodic cortisol levels checks are recommended. Such a test goes a long way in reducing your risk of Addison’s disease and the notorious Cushing syndrome. The latter arises from a deficiency of cortisol in your body while Addison’s disease arises in a situation of excessive cortisol levels. When you habitually carry out your cortisol test possibly using your cortisol saliva test kit at home, you can maintain the optimal performance of your pituitary glands, making you less vulnerable to adrenal diseases.
Your doctor might order a cortisol test if he sees symptoms that suggest your levels are either too high or too low.
Typically, there are three ways blood cortisol levels can be determined. These are the urine test, saliva test or directly through the blood.
Let us examine them.
The Saliva Test
The saliva test boasts more than 88% accuracy in determining the presence of the Cushing syndrome. This test is preferably conducted at night just before you sleep. This timing is specially chosen because human cortisol is at their minimal levels within 11 pm and 12 am. Therefore should your cortisol saliva test kit show high cortisol levels at this point, it is a strong pointer to an anomaly? If you choose not to use saliva test kits, you can formally get it done by a doctor professionally. The advantage of this is that the doctor is more versed to measure your cortisol saliva test results against others.
The Blood Test
The blood test can be carried out twice within a 24-hr span. You can perform the first test early in the day and follow it up with the second one by 4 pm. This timing alludes to the dynamic nature of cortisol levels during the day. Medical practitioners know these levels are ever-changing across the day. Hence a qualified lab technician will extract blood from your arm for the test possibly via a needle.
After the blood is collected, a doctor can more accurately ascertain your cortisol levels. It is possible that medications can disrupt the accuracy of such results. The doctor may, therefore, choose to follow up the blood test with the urine or saliva test.
The Urine Test
Typically, the blood test measures protein-associated cortisol. In contrast, the urine test determines the free cortisol. This cortisol is not bound to protein. 24-hr urine samples work best for this test. This will necessitate urinating in a container across 24 hours.