Cortisol is a steroid hormone with important functions for our body. You may wonder why did I associate cortisol with stress. Well, you should know that cortisol is also known as the stress hormone, because it is being released under stress. So if you have a hectic lifestyle and a stressful job, you should think twice when getting mad or stressing over some minor detail. After all, health is the greatest treasure that you possess, and you would not want something to happen to you because of the cortisol level in your body.

The amount of cortisol in the blood suffers many variations, as the maximum level of cortisol is reached in the morning time, right after waking up, and the lowest level at about 3 hours after falling asleep, at night. Changing this pattern, regarding the cortisol level, can lead to depression and other medical problems. A high level of cortisol may cause high blood pressure or blood sugar. In some cases, cortisol can cause infertility, in women. You can see, thus, that it is important to get tested and to see where are you standing regarding to the cortisol level in your body. Do not worry, though, because the tests are very easy to make, as they only require you to give blood and urine samples, which will be processed in special laboratories in no time.

Cortisol is also important to treat some diseases, like Addison’s disease, allergies and inflammatory diseases. If, however, your cortisol level is too high, you should definitely try to balance it, because otherwise it can lead to severe medical problems. The best way to balance the cortisol level is to rest, to take a vacation and forget all about your daily problems. If you are constantly thinking about work, tasks and projects, you will not feel good, and the cortisol level will not be that good, either. They key to maintaining a normal cortisol level is, thus, to relax and to mix business with pleasure, in the sense that you must work, but you must have some fun once in a while, as well.