A new study has found that levels of cortisol in the hair shaft can indicate a higher risk of heart attack.
In the new study, which was conducted by researchers at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada, scientists examined the levels of the stress-marking hormone in the hairshaft to provide a long-term assessment of stress levels.
A three-centimeter hair sample was found to indicate the levels of stress in an individual over three months, since hair grows at a rate of approximately one centimeter per month.
Redford Williams, MD, director of the Behavioral Medicine Research Center at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., told WebMD in response to the study: "This is yet another nail in the coffin of those who believe that stress is not a risk factor for heart attack. More research is needed before we get to the point that we routinely measure cortisol in the hair, but we are getting there."
The study was published online in the journal Stress.
In the new study, which was conducted by researchers at the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada, scientists examined the levels of the stress-marking hormone in the hairshaft to provide a long-term assessment of stress levels.
A three-centimeter hair sample was found to indicate the levels of stress in an individual over three months, since hair grows at a rate of approximately one centimeter per month.
Redford Williams, MD, director of the Behavioral Medicine Research Center at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., told WebMD in response to the study: "This is yet another nail in the coffin of those who believe that stress is not a risk factor for heart attack. More research is needed before we get to the point that we routinely measure cortisol in the hair, but we are getting there."
The study was published online in the journal Stress.
Via : Stress
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