How we review

This page explains how articles and tools on this site are made, what we check, and what we leave out.

Who checks the articles

Articles are written and checked by the Cortisol Blood Test Editorial Team. We don’t currently have a medical reviewer, so no page on this site carries a medical-review label. If a verified clinician reviews a page in the future, that page will say so and give the review date. Until then, treat everything here as general information and talk with a clinician about your own situation.

Sources

Every medical claim links to a source. We look first to US government health sources, such as MedlinePlus, the National Institutes of Health and the Food and Drug Administration, and to peer-reviewed papers. The sources for each article are listed at the bottom of the page. Links to these sources don’t mean they endorse this site or any seller. If we can’t find a source for a claim, we leave the claim out.

How strong the evidence is

Much of what is said online about cortisol goes further than the studies do. Where a link comes from small studies, or the studies disagree, we say so. We don’t say cortisol causes something unless a source says exactly that.

Reference ranges

When we show a range, it is a published reference range, with its source. Ranges differ between labs and methods, and cortisol also changes with the time of day, so the range printed on your own lab report is the one that applies to your result. We don’t set “optimal” targets, and we don’t give dosing or treatment advice.

What a test can and can’t show

A single blood cortisol can’t diagnose or rule out Cushing’s syndrome or adrenal insufficiency, and we say so. We don’t say a test diagnoses a condition unless a source says exactly that, and we don’t say a test is “the most accurate” without a source.

How we choose what to recommend

We recommend the smallest test we list that answers the question a reader came with. Earning a commission does not change that. The seller we link to doesn’t always have the lowest price, and we don’t claim it does.

Prices

Every price we show carries the month it was checked, and the current price is always on the seller’s site. We don’t show crossed-out list prices as savings.

Tools

The test finder suggests a test that fits your answers. The units converter changes a result between nmol/L and mcg/dL and doesn’t say whether it is normal. Neither tool sends what you enter to us.

Updates and corrections

Each article shows the date it was last updated. If you find a mistake, tell us through the contact page. We correct errors and change the updated date when we do.

What we don’t publish

We don’t give dosing or treatment advice, and we don’t publish advice on lowering cortisol, supplements, detoxes or weight loss. We don’t suggest ways around the state restrictions of a lab service.