Diagnos-Techs TAP Home Testing Kit (Stress Health), Temporal Adrenal Profile

The best, most accurate test available that gives you a complete timeline of your adrenal output over a 24 hour period.  From these results, your doctor will give you the best strategy to start overcoming the debilitating symptoms from adrenal dysfunction.

Our Adrenal TAP test can be helpful if you experience:

• Chronic stress and stress-related health conditions
• Fatigue or lack of energy
• Anxiety or depression
• Irritability or mood swings
• Insomnia, sleep disturbances or difficulty waking
• Difficulty losing weight
• Poor memory or difficulty retaining information
• Muscle and joint pain or weakness
• Easy bruising or excessive stretch marks
• Hypertension

Functions Influenced by Cortisol levels

Energy Production

Abnormal adrenal function can alter the ability of cells to produce energy for the activities of daily life. People who have a hard time rising in the morning, or who suffer from low energy throughout the day, often have abnormal adrenal rhythms and poor blood sugar regulation.

The maintenance of a stable blood sugar level depends on food choice, lifestyle, adrenal function, and insulin activity. The Adrenal Stress Index panel measures stress hormones and insulin, to help clarify the causes of fatigue, cravings, and obesity.

Immune System Function

Various immune cells (white blood cells) cycle in and out of the spleen and bone marrow. The immune system trafficking follows the cortisol cycle. If the cycle is disrupted, especially at night, then the immune system is adversely affected. Short and long-term stress is known to suppress the immune response in the lungs, throat, urinary tract, and intestines. With lowered levels of mucosal antibodies (secretory IgA), our resistance to infection is reduced and allergic reactions may increase.

Skin Integrity

Human skin regenerates mostly during the night. With higher night cortisol values, less skin regeneration takes place. Therefore a normal cortisol rhythm is essential for optimal skin health.

Muscle and Joint Function

Abnormal adrenal rhythms are known to compromise tissue healing. Reduced tissue repair and increased tissue breakdown can lead to muscle and joint wasting with chronic pain.

Bone Health

The adrenal rhythm determines how well we build bone. If the night and morning cortisol levels are elevated, our bones do not rebuild well, and we are more prone to osteoporosis. Stress is the enemy of the bones. In postmenopausal women, the effect of stress worsens due to the naturally lower levels of female hormones.

Allergies/Autoimmune Disorders

More than fifty years ago, Dr. Jefferies (author of Safe Uses of Cortisol) discovered that patients with environmentally triggered allergies and autoimmune diseases dramatically improved when given cortisol for other purposes. More recently, German researchers reported that disruption of the adrenal axis and cytokine relationships lead to predisposition and aggravation of autoimmune diseases.

The ASI panel can help identify patients with autoimmune diseases and adrenal problems who may improve with cortisol support.

Sleep Quality

The ability to enter REM sleep cycles and to experience regenerative sleep are interrupted by high cortisol values at night and in the morning. Chronic lack of REM sleep can reduce a person’s mental vitality, vigor, and induce depression.

Thyroid Function

The level of cortisol at the cell level controls thyroid hormone production. Often, hypothyroid symptoms such as fatigue and low body temperature are due to an adrenal maladaptation.

Blood Sugar Regulation

Chronic hypoglycemia can impair normal adrenal function by repetitive overstimulation of cortisol production. Recurring exposure to high cortisol will impair insulin activity and invariably lead to insulin resistance and beta-cell exhaustion (diabetes).

The ASI panel investigates the insulin-cortisol relationship under real-life conditions to allow targeted and meaningful interventions. This panel is useful in the following clinical situations: rapid weight gain and obesity, imbalanced blood lipids, sugar blues, early diabetes, and associated emotional disturbances.

Brain Function and Emotional Health

Several recent publications report a hyperactive HPA axis in depressed patients. Elevated midnight salivary cortisol is now considered one of the best tests in diagnosing endogenous depression. Other anomalies in cortisol rhythm usually accompany the midnight elevation. On the other hand, cortisol elevations and rhythm disruptions throughout the day are typical of attention deficit disorders (ADD).

The anomalous cortisol findings in depression and ADD can be diagnosed successfully with the ASI panel. Subsequent interventions to rectify specific cortisol elevations (during the day or night) are usually effective when applied under proper supervision.

Please note this testing kit is available for established Integrative Health Care patients ONLY. If you are interested in becoming a patient of Integrative Health Care, please contact our clinic at 480-657-0003. At this time, we are only able to offer services to the following states: Arizona, California, Washington, Montana, Oregon, and Utah.

For Integrative Health Care Established Patients: Our team will contact you once we receive your results with recommendations or to schedule a follow-up with your physician.