Abstract
Introduction: Cortisol is a hormone of immense importance in the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis & it has got paramount effects on the metabolism of lipid, glucose & protein. With reference to stroke, a stress response implies rise in the levels of catecholamines & cortisol during the 1st week after the acute episode. Such kind of response is evident in infarction of cerebrum & bleeding in the cerebral cortex. There is ample amount of evidence from past studies that raised levels of serum cortisol levels are associated with volume of ischemic lesion.
 Patients and methods: Subjects included were patients who were admitted in the hospital within six hours after the stroke episode. Every patient was monitored for Scandinavian Stroke Scale (SSS) after the admission. This test was conducted per two hours in first twenty four hours, then per four hours in the next 48 hours & then every day up-to seventh day. Blood samples were extracted for the estimation of serum cortisol. Time duration of 01:00 AM to 07:00 AM was excluded for sample extraction.
 Results: Serum cortisol level was significantly higher in subjects with insular involvement (635 nmol/l) as compared to patients without insular involvement.
 Conclusion: It’s quite clear from our study that raised cortisol levels are highly associated with bad outcome & poor response in patients with stroke.
 Keywords: Serum Cortisol, hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis, Stroke.
Highlights
Cortisol is a hormone of immense importance in the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis & it has got paramount effects on the metabolism of lipid, glucose & protein
Serum cortisol level was significantly higher in subjects with insular involvement (635 nmol/l) as compared to patients without insular involvement
History of stroke, Diabetes mellitus and Atrial fibrillation was observed in 38(59.4%), 12(18.8%), 24(37.5%) and 11(17.2%) respectively
Summary
Cortisol is a hormone of immense importance in the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis & it has got paramount effects on the metabolism of lipid, glucose & protein. A stress response implies rise in the levels of catecholamines & cortisol during the 1st week after the acute episode. Such kind of response is evident in infarction of cerebrum & bleeding in the cerebral cortex. There is ample amount of evidence from past studies that raised levels of serum cortisol levels are associated with volume of ischemic lesion
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