Why Test Saliva Cortisol?
• For an accurate assessment of adrenal function, it is necessary to measure 4 cortisol levels throughout the day: within 1/2 an hour of waking, before lunch, before supper, and before bed. • Saliva collection is painless and easy to do at home. Blood collection requires a trip to the laboratory, which makes measuring multiple cortisol levels throughout the day very impractical. • Saliva measures hormone that actually gets into tissue, because hormones pass through the tissue of the saliva gland before getting into saliva. Blood measures hormones that might eventuall get to tissue. • The stress of a needle puncture for blood collection tends to raise cortisol levels. Saliva collection is generally not considered stressful and therefore does not raise cortisol levels. • Saliva testing of cortisol is widely accepted in the research community and is rapidly becoming the preferred method for measuring cortisol. Talk to your health care provider about having a salivary adrenal function test
