Lab - DUTCH Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR)
Benefits At a Glance
Product Description
Stress plays a major role in health. It affects many aspects of health including quality sleep, hormonal imbalances, food cravings, and inability to heal, just to name a few. This test is extremely valuable to resolve sleep issues and better understand a patient's stress response.
When we open our eyes upon waking, cortisol levels naturally begin to rise by an average of 50%. 30 minutes after waking, cortisol levels will still show this sharp increase. By 60 minutes after waking, cortisol levels have peaked and begin to decline. Measuring this rise and fall of cortisol levels at waking can be used as a “mini stress test”. Research shows that the size of this increase correlates with the HPA-axis function, even if the sample measurements are all within range. A quick saturation of saliva swabs upon waking, and at 30 and 60 minutes after waking, provide what is required to assess a patient’s Cortisol Awakening Response.
*Price includes practitioner interpretation and recommended lifestyle, dietary, and therapeutic approaches.