The higher the level of stress hormone cortisol in hair, the greater the risk of heart disease. Canadian researchers say this opens up a new way for chronic stress research. This result is expected to be put into clinical use. At that time, doctors can judge the risk of cardiovascular disease by testing the patient's hair.
The hair is dead, but the hair root (hair follicle) is alive. When pressure is high, substances such as cortisol produced by the body will enter the blood flow and penetrate into hair follicles through scalp capillaries. As the hair grows, cortisol will leave a long record in the hair. Hair grows about 1 cm per month, and most people's hair records cortisol changes over several months.
At present, blood or urine tests can only reflect the changes of cortisol in patients for hours to days. Gideon Cullen, a professor of pediatric medicine and toxicology, who led the new study, said hair can record a person's cortisol change history over the past 10 months.
Earlier, Professor Colleen tested the drug toxicity of children born to women who took cocaine and heroin during pregnancy through their baby's hair. Some scientists also use hair to detect the levels of sterols in fitness people. If the level of steroids in the body can be accurately measured through the hair, the hair must be able to measure cortisol and other hormones.
Cortisol can be stored in hair for at least 6 months. Peruvian autopsy study found that cortisol can even be preserved in hair for more than 1500 years. Professor collen and his colleagues collected hair samples from 120 male patients in the cardiovascular department of Mel medical center in Israel. Half of the participants were diagnosed with heart disease, and the other half were diagnosed with diseases such as chest pain and infection. The researchers chose male patients because heart disease is more common in men and there are certain differences in hormones between men and women.
The results showed that the level of cortisol in men with heart disease was significantly higher. The researchers divided the participants into four groups according to the cortisol level and found that the incidence rate of heart disease in the group with the lowest cortisol level was 32%, while the incidence rate of heart disease in the group with the highest cortisol level soared to 68%. After the researchers included cholesterol levels and body mass index (BMI) as risk factors for heart disease, the results remained unchanged. Professor Cullen said the study needs to be confirmed by large-scale research. However, once successful, hair detection will become a non-invasive stress detection method.
