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So stressed you feel like pulling out your hair?
Save a strand for the doctor. It could end up saving your life.
A new study shows your tresses store a long-term record of your stresses. And testing a few hairs may be able to predict your risk of an imminent heart attack, according to a report from LiveScience.
Troubles at work? Family strife? Money woes? All that angst is stashed in your hair in the form of cortisol, the so-called stress hormone, Canadian researchers found.
The hormone gets released in the bloodstream when you're freaking out and seeps into your hair follicles. As the hair grows, it provides a timeline of your anxieties -- and the toll they take on your heart.
Gideon Koren, a professor at the University of Western Ontario, took hair samples from 120 men and measured cortisol levels in the 1.2 inches of hair closest to the scalp. That’s about three months worth of growth.
He found that cortisol levels were significantly higher in men who had heart attacks compared with men who had other illnesses.
The finding, published today in the journal Stress, could pave the way for a noninvasive test that lets doctors know when a patient is suddenly a heart attack waiting to happen.
Baldies, however, need not apply.
How would you score on a stress test? Do tell.
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Can't a person just keep track of the stress in their lives that cause the higher cortisol levels in their hair? Less stress, less cortisol. You need a doctor to run some test on your hair to tell you what you already know?
Good point, EK. Why would anyone need a simple medical test to keep track of this? All you have to do is, on an hourly basis or so, write down how stressed you are, using the Stress-o-Byte point system. Sitting in stop-and-go traffic, fuming? Lean over for the pen in your glovebox so you can write down a 7.6 on the Stress-o-Byte scale. Four AM, having trouble sleeping, worried you'll be exhausted at work tomorrow? Fumble in your bedside table for a pencil, mark down a 6.2! You'll probably be able to read your chicken scrawl in the morning. Do this faithfully for thirty years or so, figure out how to interpret the results via the Stress-o-Byte-to-heart-attack-probability conversion scale, and you're all set! No need to take one step in the direction of our socialist health care system!
EK - to some people stress is a normal, everyday thing. People can go through life so constantly and consistently stressed that they don't even KNOW they're under stress anymore. Other people could be much more stressed out than they realize - it's all down to the individual and how they perceive stress.
Also, recording your stress is harder than just recording your frustrations. Real stress can be harder to pinpoint or can be obfuscated by the very reason that you're stressed. If you're worried that you may not have enough money to pay rent in a month or two then you're occupied by being worried about that and how to fix it instead of stopping to think how much it's stressing you out.
However, I do wish that more people would try to manage their stresses like you do - I think it would be much better for the country to develop more self-reliance instead of going to the doctor and telling him/her to "just fix it" for us.
Just find that stash of 'ludes from the 1980's in the back of the freezer, pop one, and chill out.
That and the other 'virtual reality' substitutes for life.
A loser's game.
True, but they did include a funny pic of a moron in the article. lol
My doctor already told me it's not cancer or all the other diseases I worry about it's STRESS. I lead a totally healthy life, keep my diet and weight under control (very hard to do) I have changed my eating habits since 1988. I used to, before some bad falls, exercise every single day without fail. I eat the healthiest anyone could eat near vegetarian all whole grains and lots of veggies and fruits. But the tough stuff in my life is what I cannot control. I've tried but nothing really works. I do NOT have to analyze my hair to figure anything out. I already know. I just hope my healthy life style works. Hey we all have to go sometime it's just a matter of delaying the inevitable. WE are ALL on the Titanic and just need to wait and see how long before it hits the iceberg!
"I do NOT have to analyze my hair to figure anything out. I already know."
Love this.
Natalie,
Has it crossed your mind that your onsession with leading a "totally healthy life" has stressed you out, or at least added a great deal to it?
Kick back, have a shocolate sundae and don't feel guilty about it. Maybe you'll feel better for a bit.
The last thing I need is some know-it-all researcher telling me how stressed I might be!! I'm fine, I'm bald, everything's under control. Why don't you run stories with a positive spin instead? Wait...where's my zanix?
it's xanax, you moron!
STOP!!!!!!! You'll stress the poor guy!!!!!! lol
I'm retired; I have no stress. I am very blessed and know it.
Me too! But I am taking care of elderly parents and that can be stressful.
But not as stressful as my job was!
I care for my elderly parents also and my dad has Alzheimer's-boy if that isn't stressful! Problem is I lost my job in May of 2008 and no longer have any medical insurance. Still it beats the job I had in retail!
Those who care for those in trouble------------are the best.
Absolutely Right! God Bless anyone that cares for others in time of need.
The article did not tell us anything!
This may apply to men; it's a disgrace that he did not test women as well given our high incidence of heart attacks and the biological differences between men and women.
I agree!!:
Each year in the United States, more women than men die of heart disease and other cardiovascular diseases.
Read more: Women And Heart Attacks - eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/women-and-heart-attacks/#ixzz0yUcN7s24
check my hair you mean that numbness and chest pain wont be enough of a hint
Too funny! However, having your hair tested can tell you a lot more about your health than if you are prone to a heart attack. This article could have been a heck of a lot more interesting.
Figures. My stressful divorce seems to have taken a toll on both my ex and myself. She developed a quarter sized bald spot on her scalp. My beard went from all black to salt and pepper grey in about a year.
Very impt tool -- can be used to QUANTIFY stress, to help evaluate new meds or ID stress levels of surgeries / chemo / dialysis / even with plaintiffs claiming pain and suffering, etc.
I thought my apple body with the big gut was enough to indicate I'm a walking cortisol factory. Doesn't seem to matter what my situation is, I'm just a tense person with a lot of free-floating anxiety.
with the exception of the retired geezer, you're all going to have some kind of stress related health issue. you're wound so tight that you have let an article work you up. damn!!
women are more susceptibleto stress related health problems because they tend to stress a lot more. my wife gets so mad at me because i don't really get stressed about much. don't really see the point of it. Ms. Rosen, your doctor is right. you need to really re-evaluate your life. you're so concerned with eating right, exercising, etc. that you've created a high stress environment. good luck with that.
stress is the leading cause of death in the world.
This study gives a new meaning to the expression "bad hair day"!
Wonder where I can get a bottle of aspirin shampoo!
OK the leading cause of death in this world is cessation of respiration coupled with cessation of cardiac rythmn for a time period of greater than roughly 5 minutes.
Stress is often the antecedent to such occurances as mentioned above. I'm betting that hair analysis will be way too late to be helpful.
BUT hair analysis will make some pharmaceutical lab rich because lots of people long on $$$$ and short on sense will buy into this and gget their hair tested.
Uh huh, and how do they test bald guys???
Pubic hair can be used to test drug addicts who've shaved trying to beat the hair strand test - guess that would apply to baldies, too.
I agree with all of the new jerk reactions above:
We should not test hair even if it may prevent heart attacks downstream
We should not do blood tests that may indicate a propensity for diabetes, kidney failure, liver failure, and...and a high level of HDL cholesterol that may result in a heart attack.
We should never, ever have an x-ray, unless you have a leg fracture, because x-rays may discover something: cancer, COPD...but you would know if you have a leg fracture, so we don't need x-rays.
We should never, ever do any testing because we should not let some organization make a profit from the test. We should never, ever do any testing because, like some of you above, you already know what is wrong with your bodies.
You, and you know who you are doncha, are a bunch of frigging idiots.
i think you mean "knee jerk reactions." and you want your HDL cholesterol to be "high" as opposed to the LDL that is thought to cause heart disease.
two strands of your ball hair !!
Wow. Who would have thought an article on potentially predicting heart attacks would get so much negative attention?
The internet is a strange place some days...
in today`s world stress is the #1 killer ! if you are under bad stress you will have a heart attach; I am 68 and feel great ! why; no stress !
Must be nice Fred!
Sometimes I think people are missing the point of these little Body Odd tidbits...Smile, think "yuck", think "horse-$#!&", think "interesting" but whatever you do, don't fight over them.....Are you serious?
Now back to a lighter note...I wonder if cortisol weighs down your hair? Mine has gone from being completely curly to completely straight since May of this year :-) Probably not or most people who have hair would have straight hair these days!
Michael in SJ....Ummm.....it's the HIGH level of LDL cholesterol that can lead to heart attacks. You want your HDL to be high, it can help protect AGAINST heart attacks.
Keep the " XANAX " comming 3 x an hour, I'll be fine,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
You people are too funny...and laughter is the best medicine!
I don't know if my hair is trying to tell me anything or not? It's been gone for years and years!