Cortisol Stress Test

Adrenal Glands & Their Role in Hormone Balance

• The adrenal glands enable your body to cope with stress and survive. Shaped like two tiny pyramids, they sit atop the kidneys and mobilize your response to changes within your environment. 
  
• Whether coming from outside of ourselves in the form of a natural disaster, or from within, like the anxiety we experience before public speaking, it is the adrenals’ job to help us adapt to the situation. 
  
• They accomplish this by secreting key hormones like epinephrine (adrenaline) to mobilize the body’s natural “fight or flight” response in an emergency, and cortisol, the primary stress hormone that fine-tunes our response to the stress and strains of everyday living. 
  
• Adrenal glands are key regulators of blood sugar, insulin and inflammation, and play a major role in mood and mental focus, stamina and sleep cycles. 
  
• Adrenals out of balance are dysregulated and fail to produce enough essential hormones to keep us running on all cylinders. When a person is under constant physical or emotional stress, the brain signals the adrenal glands to release elevated amounts of cortisol. But over time, if stress levels remain high, the brain will down-regulate its signal resulting in lower adrenal output.
  

Hormone testing: Your guide to Adrenal Balance

• Hormone balance and the knowledge that hormones work in tandem with a healthy mind and body are pivotal in managing stress. Testing allows you to identify and target imbalances unique to you. 
  
• Cody Drug offers saliva testing for DHEA and diurnal cortisol levels at 4 time points during the day along with other adrenal markers. By reviewing test results, your health care provider can: 
  
• Identify adrenal imbalances caused by too much or too little hormone 
  
• Match tested hormone levels with your symptoms to help individualize a treatment plan 
  
• Retest to monitor and adjust treatment as needed 
  
• Track progress with follow-up test reports 
  

What Test Results Can Tell You 

Cortisol that does not follow the normal pattern can trigger blood sugar imbalances, food cravings and fat storage, especially around the middle. Related imbalances of low DHEA commonly result in loss of lean muscle, lack of strength, decreased stamina and low exercise tolerance.