Stress has long been considered a factor for heart disease but now researchers have found an accurate way to measure it. Researchers at the University of Western Ontario found they can use the amount of cortisol, the stress hormone, in the hair as a way to measure stress levels prior to a heart attack.
The Link between Stress and Hair
Cortisol is a hormone that secretes during times of stress. It can be measured in saliva, urine and serum, but that can only tell the stress level at the time it is taken. Hair, however, grows an average of one-half inch per month. A three-inch sample of hair can show how much stress the person experienced over a period of 6 months by the distribution of cortisol.
In the study, the researchers took hair samples from 56 male adults who had suffered heart attacks and 56 male adult patients who were in the hospital for other reasons. Cortisol levels in the hair were higher in the heart attack patients for the three months prior to being hospitalized than for the patients who had not suffered a heart attack. Compared to the other factors that predict heart attack – diabetes, family history, hypertension and smoking, the level of cortisol in the hair was the strongest indicator of a heart attack.
Managing Stress to Prevent Heart Disease
Everyone experiences stress at some level with their job, family obligations, or financial situation but unlike some factors of heart disease, stress is manageable. According to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, the way people deal with stress can make a difference in how it affects their health. When a person feels physically and mentally healthy, they can deal with everyday stressors more easily. The Mayo Clinic suggests these ways of maintaining a healthy body and mind in order to deal better with stress:
- Get plenty of sleep. Sleep helps the mind deal better with stress.
- Exercise regularly. Exercise releases stress, increases blood flow to the brain and releases feel-good hormones that help elevate mood.
- Learn relaxation techniques. Small things like taking a deep breath, closing your eyes for a few seconds or listening to calming music during stressful times can help you stay calm in stressful situations.
- Maintain healthy friendships. Having people around you who care about you and who you can share experiences with helps you manage stress better.
- Consider counseling or psychotherapy. If stress is becoming unmanageable, seeing a counselor or therapist may help you deal more effectively with stress.
The new finding of evaluating stress levels from hair samples may be able to help doctors in the future measure a person’s risk for heart attack by their stress levels. This, along with learning ways to reduce stress, may help prevent more heart attacks in the future.
Sources:
Science Daily “Hair Provides Proof of the Link Between Chronic Stress and Heart Attack” Retrieved September 5, 2010.
Mayo Clinic “Stress: Win control over the stress in your life” Retrieved September 5, 2010.
Comments