Kresser Institute

Tools, Training & Community for Functional Health Professionals

Home
Knowledge Base
HPA Axis

HPA Axis

Regarding cortisol-to-DHEA ratios on the DUTCH test, approximately what ratio is considered normal, and what is considered indicating catabolic, i.e., high cortisol compared to DHEA?

Chris Kresser: There’s not really a lot of literature that establishes a specific ratio, especially when it comes to using...

Chris mentions ‘We refer to stress-induced pathology as HPA dysfunction, but the reality is that stressors affect us via two primary mechanisms: the HPA axis and the SAS. I understand that these are intertwined, but my question is, isn’t it rather important to try to work out which one is dominant, or which one of these is dominantly out of whack in certain situations like waking up in the middle of the night because the physiology will be a bit different? If cortisol is too high at night, isn’t that really different than if adrenaline is high at night? I know the long-term solutions will be the same, but in the short term in terms of which supplements to use, etc.

Dr. Amy Nett: You know, I mean, it’s a good question, and I think there are probably definitely some nuanced...

I’m trying to work out which is the best saliva test for assessing cortisol awakening response for us in the U.K. The labs that I’m signed up with offer the four times cortisol, one times DHEA from three companies: Dunwoody, LabRx, and ZRT. Just wondered if you have any idea which is the most trustworthy of these, or maybe it doesn’t matter as we are not using the reference ranges anyway.

Dr. Amy Nett: Well, you’re right. So, all you want is values, not reference ranges, but that said, labs still...

I just want to clarify about cortisol, cortisone, and cortisol/cortisone metabolites. So, the metabolites, or once they’ve been metabolized, and there is no going back from there, cortisol is the active form. Cortisone is the inactive form. It can go back and forth between those. Can I run through cortisol and cortisone?

Dr. Amy Nett: Okay. So, in general, we have cortisol, which is made primarily in the adrenal glands. Cortisol is...

In a case study from the HPA-D unit, you mentioned a patient with high cortisol” or high free cortisol, I’m assuming he means. “… high cortisol metabolites and high cortisone. Additionally you mentioned the patient had eye floaters. Have you noticed any underlying dysfunctions specifically related to eye floaters?

Chris Kresser: Nothing comes to mind off the top of my head. I mean, hypertension could potentially cause that and...

Prev Next