Cortisol: Too Much of a Good Thing?

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By Carolyn Krieg, DO and Paul H Kim, MD

Stress has been linked to just about every health problem there is. And unfortunately, few of us are free from the multiple stressors of everyday life. Stress comes in many forms, divorce, loss of a loved one, high pressure job, illness, surgery, chronic pain, to name a few. Our bodies are hardwired to react to stress in ways that protect us. Most of us are familiar with the “fight-or-flight” response of our body when under an acute stress. This response is a combination of nerve and hormonal signals that prompts your adrenal glands (located above your kidneys) to release a surge of hormones, including adrenalin and cortisol.

Adrenalin increases your heart rate, elevates your blood pressure, and increases blood supply to your brain and muscles. Cortisol mobilizes energy (glucose) to fuel the action necessary to deal with the stressor. It also enhances the brain’s use of glucose and increases the availability of substances for tissue repair. Another important role of cortisol is to inhibit functions that are non-essential or detrimental during flight-or-flight. It alters the immune response and suppresses the digestive system, reproductive system, and growth processes.

With all the vital functions cortisol plays during times of stress, it can wreak havoc when chronically elevated by a stressful lifestyle or a long-term stressor. Furthermore, when we’re in a constant state of fight-or-flight, our body can get “stuck” in the stress response and forget how to “rest-and-digest” even when the stressor is gone. High cortisol levels can be deceiving, giving us energy to be highly productive, but at the same time robbing us of much needed sleep and keeping us wired too much of the time.

Chronically high cortisol production puts us at increased risk of numerous health problems, including:

• mood swings and depression

• sleep problems

• memory and concentration impairment

• blood sugar dysregulation and insulin resistance

• digestive problems

• thyroid imbalance

• female hormone imbalance

• weight gain (especially around the belly)

• chronic fatigue

• loss of muscle and bone density

• impaired healing and cell regeneration

Standard tests for adrenal function aren’t very helpful for the majority of people experiencing symptoms. If your doctor orders the typical cortisol test, it’s difficult to see anything other than the most severe cases of adrenal dysfunction (e.g., Addison’s disease or Cushing’s syndrome). We use a salivary or urine test to check your cortisol at multiple points during the day to assess how well your adrenal glands are functioning throughout the day. Cortisol follows a natural rhythm. It should be high in the morning, allowing us to wake up and start the day, and then gradually decreases. It should be at it’s lowest at night, allowing us to sleep. This rhythm can get out of sync, for example low in the morning or afternoon when we need it to keep us going, and high at night causing sleep disruption.

Chronic stress and its negative impact on our health is so common, we do adrenal testing on many patients we see. If adrenal dysfunction is identified, there are ways to treat this with nutritional supplementation, dietary changes, and lifestyle modification to get them functioning normally again. Restoring our bodies ability to “rest and digest” is crucial to our health and well-being. Testing is an important first step. Call today to learn more about adrenal testing and how we can help.

www.BlackhawkLivingCA.com @BlackhawkLivingCA #BlackhawkLivingCA