How to Read Cortisol Levels

Cortisol is a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal glands (above kidneys) and carries out a range of roles in your body. Cortisol maintains blood pressure, regulates the immune system and helps break down proteins, glucose and lipids. The hormone follows a diurnal variation; its levels peak in the morning at around 8 a.m. and decline in the evenings. Working the night shift changes this rhythm. Many factors affect cortisol concentrations in your body, including temperature, stress, trauma, infection, debilitating disease and obesity. Doctors mainly order cortisol testing when they suspect excess or deficient hormone production to diagnose Cushing's syndrome or Addison's disease.

Things You'll Need

• Cortisol laboratory lab report
• A visit to health care provider

Show More

Instructions

• 1

  Check the cortisol collection time and normal ranges in your lab report. Since cortisol levels vary in your body according to the time of the day, doctors generally order a peak cortisol level (normally at 8 a.m. for most people) and another level at a later time to check if cortisol is following the correct rhythm. Cortisol normal ranges vary slightly from lab to lab, but peak cortisol level normally ranges from 6 to 23 micrograms per deciliter when individual wakes up and are very low in the evening.

• 2

  Scan the numbers the lab report provides for your cortisol levels. Compare them against the normal ranges in the report. If your cortisol level falls withing your normal ranges, your cortisol production is normal.

• 3

  Discuss your lab report results with you health-care provider. A higher or lower than normal cortisol level requires additional testing to evaluate the causes for the abnormal cortisol production. Consider your sleeping cycle; if you work the night shift your cortisol peaks when you wake up and declines around your bedtime. Pregnancy, obesity, stress, tumors, hyperthyroidism and some drugs can increase cortisol production. Hypothyroidism, adrenal insufficiency and steroid hormones can decrease cortisol levels. Cushing's syndrome disrupts the cycle the cortisol production follows because of an overactive adrenal glands, and Addison's disease decreases cortisol production.