The potential role
of hypocortisolism in pathophysiology of stress related bodily disorders
When you have adrenal insufficiency (also
called hypocortisolism), your adrenals can not make enough of these steroids.
At the other end of the spectrum, there are examples showing that high levels of stress can lead to
hypocortisolism in the long term.
On the other hand, no increase could be seen in the proportion of
hypocortisolism among bipolar patients who had been treated with the mood stabilizer lithium during a large part of their lives.
Another approach used by some doctors prior to commencing thyroid hormone treatment, is to do laboratory tests
for hypocortisolism and low aldosterone.
The author explains
why hypocortisolism can often be present when a thyroid patient is taking thyroid medication.
Martin Maripuu, doctoral student at the Department of Clinical Sciences, Division of Psychiatry, has studied the correlation between low cortisol levels, so -
called hypocortisolism, and poor psychiatric and somatic health in patients with recurrent depressions or bipolar disorder.
According to Martin Maripuu, the positive effects that early and continuous lithium treatment has on the course of the illness might partly be explained by the finding that lithium helps prevent the development
of hypocortisolism.
Using the DUTCH test, most of the athletes we see have
hypocortisolism (low available cortisol).