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Nocturnal Cortisol Elevation

Meaning

Nocturnal Cortisol Elevation describes a clinically significant deviation from the healthy cortisol diurnal variation, characterized by inappropriately high serum levels of the stress hormone cortisol during the late evening or the early sleep period. This aberrant pattern disrupts the necessary nocturnal nadir of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, leading directly to impaired sleep quality, increased arousal, and systemic metabolic dysregulation. It is often a sensitive clinical sign of chronic psychological or physiological stress or an underlying HPA axis hyperactivity disorder.