Hair cortisol levels in posttraumatic stress disorder and metabolic syndrome.

This study provides evidence of a chronically dysregulated neuroendocrine mediated stress response in PTSD, with a clear dose-response relationship. HCC do not, however, appear to have specificity for the comorbidity of PTSD and MetS in this sample.Lay summary: We found that levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, measured in hair samples were significantly higher in South African women with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than in women who had also experienced trauma, but did not have PTSD. Hair cortisol levels were, however, not associated with metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors for heart disease, in the women studied. We thus show that South African women with PTSD have elevated long-term stress hormone levels and that this effect is related to PTSD and not just due to trauma exposure. PMID: 32008379 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Stress - Category: Research Tags: Stress Source Type: research