Ordering the Cortisol Test with BioReference Laboratories
Cortisol is the main hormone produced during stress and the fight, flight, or freeze response. This is a protective response to a perceived danger or threat.
Cortisol is a hormone that is made by the adrenal glands, and the pituitary gland tells your adrenal glands how much cortisol to make in response to:
- Stress (cortisol is sometimes called the "stress hormone")
- Inflammation
- Regulating blood sugar and metabolism (how your body uses food for energy)
- Controlling blood pressure
In a healthy individual, cortisol levels increase and decrease at different times of the day. It's usually higher in the morning and lower at night unless a person works during late hours or has changing shifts.
Other factors can affect cortisol levels, include:
- Exercise
- Hypothyroidism
- Infection
- Injury or disease
- Medications such as hydrocortisone, prednisone or birth control pills, obesity, pregnancy
- Physical or emotional stress
Which Patients is the Cortisol Test with BioReference Laboratories Best Used For?
The cortisol is done to check for increased or decreased cortisol production. A physician uses a cortisol test to diagnose or monitor:
- Addison's disease
- Cushing's syndrome
- Tumors affecting the production of cortisol
Other conditions for which the cortisol test may be ordered include:
- Acute adrenal crisis
- Sepsis
- Low blood pressure
Symptoms That May Lead A Practitioner to Order a Cortisol Test
Symptoms of too much cortisol may include:
- Weight gain
- Thin arms and legs
- Round face
- Increased fat around the base of the neck or between the shoulder blades
- Easy bruising
- Wide purple streaks on the stomach, breasts, hips, and under the arms
- Muscle weakness
Symptoms of not enough cortisol may include:
- Long-lasting fatigue
- Muscle weakness
- Loss of appetite
- Weight loss
- Abdominal (belly) pain
