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.

New review explores relationship between yoga practice and brain health

Scientists have known for decades that aerobic exercise strengthens the brain and contributes to the growth of new neurons, but few studies have examined how yoga affects the brain.

12 Dec 2019

Diet high in refined carbohydrates may trigger insomnia

An estimated 30% of adults experience insomnia, and a new study by researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons suggests that diet may be partly to blame.

11 Dec 2019

Intermittent fasting may provide significant health benefits, study shows

Intermittent fasting may provide significant health benefits, including improved cardiometabolic health, improved blood chemistry and reduced risk for diabetes, new research conducted in part at Texas State University indicates.

10 Dec 2019

UC study highlights benefits of art intervention for people with dementia

University of Canberra researchers have shown that art gallery programs can improve the wellbeing of people living with dementia - and they've backed it up by testing study participants' saliva.

4 Dec 2019

Eating disorder can affect pregnancy outcome and offspring’s health

A pregnant woman with an eating disorder needs to be screened for complications more carefully because she is high-risk.

21 Nov 2019

Eating disorders increase risk of premature birth

Pregnant women with eating disorders should undergo extended pregnancy screenings considering their increased risk of complications. That is the conclusion from a study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

20 Nov 2019

Art gallery programs can improve wellbeing of people with dementia, study shows

University of Canberra researchers have shown that art gallery programs can improve the wellbeing of people living with dementia – and they’ve backed it up by testing study participants’ saliva.

13 Nov 2019

Stress affects circadian rhythm, increases metabolic disease risk

Stress is a normal part of life, but too much of everything isn’t healthy. Every day, people from all walks of life experience stress of various degrees. A new study found that when stress has disrupted the circadian rhythm, the body’s internal clock, it can increase the risk of developing metabolic diseases.

12 Nov 2019

Medical steroid use could push up diabetes risk

Glucocorticoids (GCs), or steroids, as they are popularly called, are often prescribed for their anti-inflammatory effects in a host of conditions including acute asthmatic attacks, allergies, and arthritis. However, are they doing good or harm?

12 Nov 2019

Chronic psychosocial adversity impairs dopamine production

People exposed to a lifetime of psychosocial adversity may have an impaired ability to produce the dopamine levels needed for coping with acutely stressful situations.

12 Nov 2019

Study shows how glucocorticoid hormones control sugar and fat levels over the course of 24 hours

For the first time, a study led by researchers at Helmholtz Zentrum München and the German Center for Diabetes Research shows how glucocorticoid hormones, such as cortisol, control sugar and fat levels differently during day and night, feeding and fasting, rest and activity, over the course of 24 hours.

10 Nov 2019

UC researcher finds new treatment option for liver transplant patients

A drug commonly used to treat both asthma and inflammatory bowel disease, budesonide, may also be useful as an anti-organ rejection medication for liver transplant patients leading to fewer serious side effects than the most commonly used therapy, according to a University of Cincinnati researcher.

9 Nov 2019

Study supports physical activity as a preventive measure for depression

A new study has found that physical activity may have a preventative effect against depression. Physical activity has long been linked with better mental health due to its ability to reduce the stress hormone cortisol and increase the feel-good hormone serotonin. However, there has been limited empirical evidence to support physical activity as a preventive measure for depression, making these findings very important.

5 Nov 2019

Clinical trial tests impact of actual and virtual nature on cancer patients

Researchers at Houston Methodist Cancer Center are exploring whether exposure to nature, through either a live garden or virtual reality, can alleviate pain and distress in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, possibly reducing the need for prescription narcotics.

4 Nov 2019

Prenatal stress increases birth complications and decreases male births

According to a new study published this week, mothers who undergo physical and mental stress during their pregnancies are more likely to deliver prematurely and have birth complications.

18 Oct 2019

Research: Alternative pathway to production of male hormones is present during human fetal development

Research led by the Universities of Birmingham and Manchester has made a connection between the way baby wallabies produce male hormones and how some human girls are born with genitalia that resemble those of a boy.

17 Oct 2019

Maternal stress during pregnancy could affect baby's sex and birth outcomes

It's becoming well established that maternal stress during pregnancy can affect fetal and child development as well as birth outcomes, and a new study from researchers at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and NewYork-Presbyterian now identifies the types of physical and psychological stress that may matter most.

14 Oct 2019

Lab-grown, testosterone-producing cells could help treat hypogonadism

Researchers have managed to grow human, testosterone-producing cells, which could lead to improved treatment options for low testosterone levels.

9 Oct 2019

Severe vomiting in early pregnancy linked to increased autism risk

A new study published in the American Journal of Perinatology shows a 53% increased risk of autism spectrum disorder in children born to women who had excessively severe nausea and vomiting in pregnancy.

3 Oct 2019

Potency and dosage of statins linked to diagnosis of osteoporosis

A team of researchers of MedUni Vienna working with the endocrinologists and gender physicians Michael Leutner and Alexandra Kautzky-Willer as well the division for complex statistical systems with Peter Klimek and Caspar Matzhold in cooperation with Complexity Science Hub Vienna were able to demonstrate for the first time a connection between the potency and dosage of statins with a diagnosis of osteoporosis, based on several million data sets.

30 Sep 2019