Cortisol News and Research

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Cortisol is a hormone made by the adrenal cortex (the outer layer of the adrenal gland). It helps the body use glucose (a sugar), protein, and fats. Cortisol made in the laboratory is called hydrocortisone. It is used to treat many conditions, including inflammation, allergies, and some cancers. Cortisol is a type of glucocorticoid hormone.

Research shows how emotional similarity reduces stress

Does giving a speech in public stress you out? Or writing a big presentation for your boss? What about skydiving? One way to cope, according to a new study from Sarah Townsend, assistant professor of management and organization at the USC Marshall School of Business, is to share your feelings with someone who is having a similar emotional reaction to the same scenario

29 Jan 2014

New biomarker for stress in wild animals facing global climate change

Chemical analyses by neuroscientist Jerrold Meyer and colleagues at the University of Massachusetts Amherst are helping to establish hair cortisol concentration (HCC) as an important new biomarker for stress in wild animals facing global climate change.

25 Jan 2014

Prenatal exposure to maternal stress hormones predicts nicotine dependence for daughters

Tobacco smoking by pregnant women has long been viewed as a public health risk because of smoking's adverse effects on the development of a fetus.

10 Jan 2014

UCSB psychology professor finds that weight-stigmatizing messages may have the opposite effect

If you're one of the millions of people who count losing weight among their top New Year's resolutions, you might want to pay careful attention to some new findings by UC Santa Barbara psychology professor Brenda Major.

9 Jan 2014

OASIS receives research award from MJFF to develop saliva-based, rapid test for Parkinson's detection, diagnosis

Oasis Diagnostics Corporation is the recipient of a research award from The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research to validate OASIS' development of a non-invasive, saliva-based, rapid test for Parkinson's disease detection and diagnosis.

8 Jan 2014

Good mood reduces stress-induced effects in musicians

Even professional orchestra musicians suffer from particular stress on the day of the concert and release more cortisol.

31 Dec 2013

Study reveals why people are predisposed to cardiovascular disease and death

A genetic trait known to make some people especially sensitive to stress also appears to be responsible for a 38 percent increased risk of heart attack or death in patients with heart disease, scientists at Duke Medicine report.

19 Dec 2013

UCSB anthropologists find successful hunting boosts testosterone, cortisol levels in Tsimane men

While small-scale horticulture is a relatively recent addition to the human repertoire of food provisioning, hunting has deep evolutionary roots. In practically every society, hunting ability correlates with reproductive success - the better the hunter, the more children he is likely to father.

13 Dec 2013

Peer solicitation can improve reciprocal social interaction among children with autism

Peer solicitation - a child inviting another to play - can improve reciprocal social interaction among children with autism, according to a Vanderbilt University study released today in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

13 Dec 2013

New study reports first evidence of specific molecular changes in the body with meditation

With evidence growing that meditation can have beneficial health effects, scientists have sought to understand how these practices physically affect the body.

6 Dec 2013

Cognitive behavioral therapy for PTSD affects underlying biology of the disorder

A new paper published in Biological Psychiatry suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder not only reduces symptoms but also affects the underlying biology of this disorder.

4 Dec 2013

Screening for genetic mutations may help identify silent carriers of adrenal Cushing's syndrome

Genetic research that will be published tomorrow in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests to Dr. André Lacroix, professor at the University of Montreal, that clinicians' understanding and treatment of a form of Cushing's syndrome affecting both adrenal glands will be fundamentally changed, and that moreover, it might be appropriate to begin screening for the genetic mutations that cause this form of the disease.

28 Nov 2013

Exposure of fetus to maternal mood disorders may lead to behavioral problems in offspring

A great number of women experience depression or anxiety while pregnant, and exposure of the fetus to these maternal mood disorders may lead to long-term emotional and behavioral problems in the offspring.

26 Nov 2013

Steroid injections given before premature birth may increase child's mental health risks

Steroid injections given to pregnant women before premature birth may increase the child's risk of later behavioural and emotional difficulties, a study has found.

23 Nov 2013

FDA Advisory Committee votes in favor of Vanda's tasimelteon NDA for Non-24-Hour Disorder

Vanda Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's Peripheral and Central Nervous System Drugs Advisory Committee voted overwhelmingly to recommend the approval of Vanda's New Drug Application for tasimelteon, proposed tradename HETLIOZ™, for the treatment of Non-24-Hour Disorder (Non-24) in the totally blind.

15 Nov 2013

Higher chocolate consumption associated with lower levels of total fat

Scientists at the University of Granada have disproved the old idea that chocolate is fattening, in a study reported this week in Nutrition. Higher chocolate consumption associated with lower levels of total fat—fat deposits all over the body—and central—abdominal—fat, independently of whether or not subjects are physically active, and of their diet.

8 Nov 2013

Researcher receives NIH grant to study physiological impact of maternal smoking on fetal behavior

Laura Stroud, Ph.D., a researcher with The Miriam Hospital's Centers for Behavioral and Preventive Medicine, was recently awarded a 5-year, $2,885,481 grant from the National Institutes of Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), to further her work on the physiological impact of maternal smoking on fetal development and behavior.

30 Oct 2013

SENSE Theatre program improves social deficits in adolescents with autism

A novel autism intervention program using theatre to teach reciprocal communication skills is improving social deficits in adolescents with the disorder that now affects an estimated one in 88 children, Vanderbilt University researchers released today in the journal Autism Research.

23 Oct 2013

Ghrelin hormone released during chronic stress may predispose people to PTSD

About a dozen years ago, scientists discovered that a hormone called ghrelin enhances appetite. Dubbed the "hunger hormone," ghrelin was quickly targeted by drug companies seeking treatments for obesity - none of which have yet panned out.

16 Oct 2013

Elderly patients who have diabetes are more likely to suffer from postoperative delirium, undergo longer surgery

Elderly surgical patients are more likely to suffer from debilitating post-operative delirium if they have diabetes, undergo longer surgery or respond poorly to stress, according to a study presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY™ 2013 annual meeting.

15 Oct 2013