This article is about heart health and how your hair's cortisol level can have a direct correlation with your heart's health. Very interesting!
http://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/info-10-2010/health_discovery_what_your_hair_may_say_about_your_heart.html?cmp=BAC-OUTBRAIN-POLITICS_12166613_What-Your-Hair-May-Say-About-Your-Heart
This is really cool! This could certainly be a useful tool for annual checkups for patients over a certain age to check on their heart health. However, if someone is bald or has a shaved head, I guess it wouldn't be of use. With all the stress we have to deal with in a semester, I wonder how much cortisol is present in each of our hair shafts. Hmph...
ReplyDeleteThat is amazing! What really struck me was the statement that the level of cortisol found in hair was a stronger predictor of a heart attack than cholesterol or body weight.. The fact that you can measure stress levels for a six month period has the potential to really impact preventative care. Too cool.
ReplyDeleteWhat an awesome article! I went and did some outside research, and this same idea was applied to patients with Cushings Syndrome. I'll post the link. It makes me wonder what other odd places of the body can be vital indicators.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2945912/