Make Entry -- Become an Editor -- Most Popular: (10, 25, 50, 75, 100)

   Help

Cortisol

Cortisol is a corticosteroid hormone that is produced in response to stress. It increases blood pressure and blood sugar levels, suppresses the immune system, and could be at least one cause in female infertility. It is related to the drug hydrocortisone, used to fight inflammation and allergies.

Cortisol is highest in the early morning and lowest several hours after you fall asleep. This pattern is disturbed with stressors like clinical depression, psychological stress, hypoglycemia, illness, fever, fear, pain, trauma, etc. Individuals have some variation as well.

High cortisol levels may cause you to gain weight. It is an insulin antagonist and increases glycogen formation in the liver, and these and other effects can make you hungry and cause weight gain. Prolonged high levels of cortisol can cause wasting of muscles, intensifying the effect. Besides this, long-term exposure may damage certain brain cells, impairing learning.

Cortislim is a weight loss system that allegedly reduced levels of cortisol, helping its users lose weight. However, they stopped advertising this in 2004, when the US FTC stated that their claims were either false or unsubstantiated.

Web Resources On Cortisol

Cortisol level
Stress on the Brain

Book Resources On Cortisol

Adrenal Fatigue: The 21st-Century Stress Syndrome by Wilson & Wright
Safe Uses of Cortisol by William Jefferies

Site Maps: Most Recent | Clusters | Browse
New: Graduate Student Job Opportunity