According to the study, people with high levels of stress hormones such as cortisol are twice as likely to develop cardiovascular diseases such as stroke or heart attack in their lifetime.
The research team from the Netherlands studied long-term levels of cortisol and its inactive form of cortisone, which is found in scalp hair.
The presence of these hormones in the hair indicates that the person has been exposed to the steroid hormone glucocorticoid in response to stress in the previous months.
Researchers analyzed cortisol and cortisone levels in more than 6,000 hair samples taken from adult men and women participating in the study.
During the study, which followed each participant for five to seven years, scientists sought to understand the long-term relationship between cortisol and cortisone levels and cardiovascular disease.
During the study period, 133 cases of cardiovascular disease were reported, according to studyfinds, which specializes in medical news and health research.
Participants with higher cortisol and cortisone levels had twice the lifetime risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
This risk is multiplied by more than three for people over 57 years of age.
Commenting on the results of the study, Elisabeth van Rossum of Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam said: “We hope hair analysis will eventually be useful as a test that can help clinicians identify susceptible individuals. to be at increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease.
“In the future, we may be able to make targeting the effects of stress hormones in the body a new therapeutic target,” she added.
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