14 DAY TRIAL // Cortisol is a hormone we should not have at high levels in our blood often, as - if chronic - this stress hormone is linked to depression, obesity and other health problems.
A new study has found that older adults experiencing loneliness, sadness or overwhelmed feelings before going to bed, had elevated levels of cortisol shortly after waking up the next morning. "You've gone to bed with loneliness, sadness, feelings of being overwhelmed, then along comes a boost of hormones in the morning to give you the energy you need to meet the demands of the day," said Emma K. Adam, assistant professor of education and social policy and faculty fellow at the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University, US.
"The morning cortisol boost could help adults who went to bed with troubled or overwhelming feelings go out in the world the next day and have the types of positive social experiences that help regulate hormone levels," she said. In fact, on a short term, cortisol is adaptive. "Cortisol helps us respond to stressful experiences and do something about them," she said. "It is necessary for survival -- fluctuations in this hormone assist us in meeting the changing demands we face in our daily lives."
The study reveals a daily balance between experience and cortisol. "Cortisol responds to and interacts with our daily experiences in subtle and important ways," Adam concluded.
Cortisol levels are generally high immediately upon waking, increase in the first 30 minutes after waking and then drop to low values. But this pattern can be altered by daily experience.
156 older adults living in Cook County - born between 1935 and 1952 and representing a range of socioeconomic classes - were investigated. Cortisol levels were measured three times daily from saliva for three consecutive days.The subjects reported their feelings each night in a diary.
Besides loneliness, anger throughout the day triggered higher bedtime levels of cortisol and constant overall levels of the stress hormone, a risk factor for disorder. "High levels of cortisol in the evening are a kind of biological signature of a bad day," said Adam.
But cortisol also can influence your daily moods, not only be influenced by it. Persons with lower levels of cortisol in the morning experienced greater fatigue during the day (this may explain chronic fatigue). "Stress systems are designed to translate social experience into biological action," said Adam.
"They are designed to be a conduit from the outside world to our internal worlds so that we can better respond to our social context. The overarching question of my studies of these systems in a variety of contexts is whether overuse of these systems plays a role in disease outcomes."