(Press-News.org) CLEVELAND, Ohio (Sept 27, 2023)—Stress affects the body and brain in many ways by causing the endocrine system to increase cortisol levels. These spiked levels can be found throughout the body. A new study suggests that elevated cortisol levels in the hair and saliva may affect cognitive and mental health in late peri/early postmenopausal women. Study results will be presented during the 2023 Annual Meeting of The Menopause Society in Philadelphia September 27-30.
It’s no secret that stress can take a major toll on the body and mind, causing a number of adverse health conditions. Significant research has been done on the long-term effects of stress. A new study, although small in size (including 43 participants in late perimenopause or early postmenopause), took a different approach to evaluating the impact of stress by determining the degree to which hair and salivary cortisol levels correlated with depression symptom severity and cognitive performance on verbal memory, verbal learning, attention, and working memory tests among healthy women in late peri/early postmenopause.
The researchers found that higher levels of hair cortisol were significantly associated with worse attention and working memory performance. Hair cortisol did not significantly correlate with performance on verbal learning or verbal memory tests. Salivary cortisol did not significantly correlate with verbal memory recall trials, attention, or working memory performance; however, higher salivary cortisol was significantly associated with worse depressive symptom severity.
This work suggests that markers of hypothalamic-pituitary-axis (HPA) activation that capture total cortisol secretion over multiple months, ie, hair cortisol, strongly correlate with cognitive performance on attention and working memory tasks, whereas measures of more acute cortisol, ie, salivary cortisol, may be more strongly associated with depression symptom severity.
The results will be presented during the Annual Meeting of The Menopause Society as part of the presentation entitled, “Stress in the body, on the brain: hair and salivary cortisol levels linked with depressive symptom severity and cognitive performance among healthy late peri/early postmenopausal women.”
“This work provides initial evidence linking longer-term HPA activation with worse attention and memory during perimenopause. Other research has demonstrated that interventions can decrease HPA activation; my next steps will be to study whether longer-term HPA is a modifiable marker and if by decreasing HPA activation with interventions we can improve executive functioning during the perimenopause,” says Dr. Christina Metcalf, Assistant Professor and lead author from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, CO.
“This study, although small in size, provides insight into considering HPA activity when evaluating a patient’s cognitive and mental health,” adds Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director of The Menopause Society. “This may be helpful in the future to identify patients who may be at higher risk for depression and cognitive decline.”
Drs. Metcalf and Faubion are available for interviews before and after the presentation at the Annual Meeting.
For more information about menopause and healthy aging, visit www.menopause.org.
The Menopause Society (formerly The North American Menopause Society) is dedicated to empowering healthcare professionals and providing them with the tools and resources to improve the health of women during the menopause transition and beyond. As the leading authority on menopause since 1989, the nonprofit, multidisciplinary organization serves as the independent, evidence-based resource for healthcare professionals, researchers, the media, and the public and leads the conversation about improving women’s health and healthcare experiences. To learn more, visit menopause.org.
END
What your hair and saliva say about your risk for depression and cognitive shortfalls during menopause
New stufy suggests hair and salivary cortisol levels may be correlated with depression symptom severity and cognitive performance
2023-09-27
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Obese women have worse menopause symptoms nd get less relief from hormone therapy
2023-09-27
CLEVELAND, Ohio (Sept 27, 2023)—Obesity has already been associated with a number of adverse health conditions and can interfere with a person’s quality of life. A new study suggests that, in addition to these other problems, it may also worsen a woman’s menopause symptoms and limit the amount of relief she gets from hormone therapy (HT). Study results will be presented during the 2023 Annual Meeting of The Menopause Society in Philadelphia, September 27-30.
HT remains the most effective ...
New research identifies genetic links between schizophrenia and cardiovascular disease risk factors
2023-09-27
WASHINGTON, D.C., Sept. 27, 2023 — New research finds that people with schizophrenia have a genetic propensity to smoking and a reduced genetic risk of obesity. The study, published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, revealed genetic overlap between schizophrenia and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, particularly body mass index (BMI) and smoking. The findings highlight the importance of environmental factors in the development of obesity and other CVD comorbidities.
Schizophrenia is associated with an increased ...
Workshop synthesis paper describes value of prescribed fire in wilderness areas
2023-09-27
GUNNISON, Colorado, September 18, 2023 - Many of the wilderness areas that we treasure were historically shaped by fire. Yet today, many wilderness landscapes are caught in the wildfire paradox – widespread suppression and exclusion of burning over the last century have increased the likelihood of high-intensity fires, which are more damaging rather than restorative. In December of 2022, experts from land management agencies, Tribes, and organizations across the country convened at the Wilderness and Fire Workshop in Gunnison to consider solutions to this dilemma, including the use of prescribed fire. Today, ...
Patients who quit smoking after percutaneous coronary intervention do as well as non-smokers – unless they had smoked heavily
2023-09-27
Patients who quit smoking after undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for narrowed arteries have similar outcomes as non-smokers during four years of follow-up after the procedure, according to a large study published in the European Heart Journal [1] today (Wednesday). However, if they had been heavy, long-term smokers, no improvement was seen.
The study of 74,471 patients who had a PCI between 2009 and 2016 is the first, large population-based study to examine the impact of smoking on cardiovascular outcomes, such as death, heart ...
USC launches liver disease study as part of $50.3 million “multi-omics” consortium
2023-09-27
The Keck School of Medicine of USC has received funding from the National Institutes of Health as part of a five-year, $50.3 million “multi-omics” study of human health and disease involving six sites. Researchers in the Multi-Omics for Health and Disease consortium will study fatty liver disease, hepatocellular carcinoma, asthma, chronic kidney disease, preeclampsia and other conditions, with a focus on underrepresented racial and ethnic groups.
Throughout the study, researchers will use ...
How silencing a gene-silencer could lead to new cancer drugs
2023-09-27
Deep inside our cells—each one complete with an identical set of genes—a molecular machine known as PRC2 plays a critical role in determining which cells become heart cells, versus brain or muscle or skin cells.
When the machine is missing or broken, normal fetal development can’t occur. If it’s mutated, cells can grow uncontrollably, and cancer can arise—a fact that has made PRC2 a source of keen interest for drug developers.
New research by scientists at CU Boulder and Harvard Medical School offers an unprecedented ...
A novel role discovered for vagus nerve
2023-09-27
The vagus nerve, known for its role in ‘resting and digesting’, has now been found to have an important role in exercise, helping the heart pump blood, which delivers oxygen around the body.
Currently, exercise science holds that the ‘fight or flight’ (sympathetic) nervous system is active during exercise, helping the heart beat harder, and the ‘rest and digest’ (parasympathetic) nervous system is lowered or inactive. However, University of Auckland physiology Associate Professor Rohit Ramchandra says that this current understanding is based on indirect estimates and a number of assumptions their new study has ...
THE LANCET: Gender inequalities worsen women’s access to cancer prevention, detection and care; experts call for transformative feminist approach
2023-09-27
Peer reviewed / Review, analysis and opinion
Cancer is a leading cause of mortality in women and ranks in the top three causes of premature death (under age 70) in women in almost every country worldwide.
New analysis finds, of the 2.3 million women who die prematurely from cancer each year, 1.5 million lives could be saved through the elimination of exposures to key risk factors or via early detection and diagnosis, while a further 800 000 deaths could be prevented if all women could access optimal ...
Prolonged mismatch between calories eaten and burned may be putting many athletes at risk of REDs (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport)
2023-09-27
The estimated prevalence of REDs varies by sport, ranging from 15% to 80%. The syndrome often goes unrecognised by athletes themselves, their coaches, and team clinicians, and may unwittingly be exacerbated by the ‘sports culture,’ because of the perceived short term gains on performance from intentionally or unintentionally limiting calorie intake, warns the Statement.
REDs was first recognised as a distinct entity by the IOC in a 2014 consensus statement. This latest consensus, informed by a panel of international experts, draws on key advances in REDs science ...
Government policies work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
2023-09-27
Policies designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions have been effective, however more stringent regulations are needed to limit global warming to the Paris temperature goals, finds a new analysis by UCL researchers of international efforts to fight climate change.
The research, published in Annual Reviews of Environment and Resources, tracked the rate of greenhouse gas emissions over the last two decades against global efforts to reduce them. Since the early 2000s, governments around the world have enacted numerous regulations to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Over the same ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
Customized smartphone app shows promise in preventing further cognitive decline among older adults diagnosed with mild impairment
Impact of COVID-19 on education not going away, UM study finds
School of Public Health researchers receive National Academies grant to assess environmental conditions in two Houston neighborhoods
Three Speculum articles recognized with prizes
ACM A.M. Turing Award honors two researchers who led the development of cornerstone AI technology
Incarcerated people are disproportionately impacted by climate change, CU doctors say
ESA 2025 Graduate Student Policy Award Cohort Named
Insomnia, lack of sleep linked to high blood pressure in teens
Heart & stroke risks vary among Asian American, Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander adults
Levels of select vitamins & minerals in pregnancy may be linked to lower midlife BP risk
Large study of dietary habits suggests more plant oils, less butter could lead to better health
Butter and plant-based oils intake and mortality
20% of butterflies in the U.S. have disappeared since 2000
Bacterial ‘jumping genes’ can target and control chromosome ends
Scientists identify genes that make humans and Labradors more likely to become obese
Early-life gut microbes may protect against diabetes, research in mice suggests
Study raises the possibility of a country without butterflies
Study reveals obesity gene in dogs that is relevant to human obesity studies
A rapid decline in US butterfly populations
Indigenous farming practices have shaped manioc’s genetic diversity for millennia
Controlling electrons in molecules at ultrafast timescales
Tropical forests in the Americas are struggling to keep pace with climate change
Brain mapping unlocks key Alzheimer’s insights
Clinical trial tests novel stem-cell treatment for Parkinson’s disease
Awareness of rocky mountain spotted fever saves lives
Breakthrough in noninvasive monitoring of molecular processes in deep tissue
BU researcher named rising star in endocrinology
Stressed New Yorkers can now seek care at Mount Sinai’s new resilience-focused medical practice
BU researchers uncover links between metabolism and aggressive breast cancer
Engineers took apart batteries from Tesla and China’s leading EV manufacturer to see what’s inside
[Press-News.org] What your hair and saliva say about your risk for depression and cognitive shortfalls during menopauseNew stufy suggests hair and salivary cortisol levels may be correlated with depression symptom severity and cognitive performance