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What does cortisol do and how it will affect your health might be a question you have been wondering.
Cortisol tends to play a number of important positive functions in your body that also includes keeping the inflammation reduced, regulating the blood pressure, and increasing the blood pressure level in your body. It also controls the sleep cycle, boosts energy, and manages the way in which your body makes use of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats.
In this article, we will discuss what cortisol does, how you can manage cortisol levels, and what the treatment is for high cortisol levels.
What Does Cortisol Do?
What does cortisol do and how does it affect your body? It is important to properly understand the answer to this question. Cortisol can be understood as the primary stress hormone in your body, which leads to an increase in your sugar or glucose levels in the body. It also improves the use of glucose by your brain along with boosting the availability of the substance that repairs your tissues.
What does cortisol do is that it helps in curbing non-essential functions in your body. It will also modify the responses of your immune system, leading to the suppression of growth processes, the reproductive system, and digestive system. This complex system of cortisol also communicates to your brain about the regions controlling fear, motivation, and mood.
Cortisol Management
Your cortisol level should calm back down after the danger or pressure has passed. This should also include all other body systems that should get back to normal levels, such as blood pressure and heartbeat.
However, if your body stays under constant stress, then it can result in several health problems for your body. These include:
- Weight gain in the body
- Trouble sleeping
- Digestion problems
- Anxiety and depression
- Concentration problems
- Headache
- Cardiovascular disease
Certain problems such as tumors in your brain can lead to increased levels of cortisol in your body. It can further lead to Cushing syndrome with symptoms such as diabetes, increased weight gain, muscle weakness, bruising, muscle weakness, and more.
If your body does not make enough of the cortisol hormone, then you are most likely suffering from Addison disease. This can lead to the appearance of several symptoms over time, including feelings of tiredness all the time, and muscle weakness that grows worse with time. It can also cause constant changes in your skin such as darkening, vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, low blood pressure, and loss of appetite.
Normal Cortisol Levels
We answered the question of what does cortisol do in the above part of the article along with stating why it is important to maintain normal cortisol levels. High levels of cortisol levels in your body can have a negative impact on the overall functioning and system of your body.
Normally, your body's cortisol levels and stress responses to your body should get back to normal. The average value of the blood samples for cortisol levels taken at 8.00 am should be around 5 to 25 mcg/dL or 140 to 690 nmol/L. Normal cortisol levels also vary according to the time of your day along with the clinical context.
High Cortisol Treatment
High cortisol levels in your body are often considered Cushing syndrome. In this case, you need to consult a medical professional. The doctor might provide you with treatment for Cushing syndrome, such as medications and a few strategies to manage stress levels.
If you are wondering what cortisol is, then you don't need to look any further. In this article, we discussed about what does cortisol do along with effective cortisol management, normal cortisol levels, and high cortisol treatment.
Here are also some of the stress management strategies that you can incorporate into your routine for normal cortisol levels. These should include practising a healthy diet, keeping a journal, practising relaxation techniques, professional counseling, taking part in your community, and more.
