Stress hormone in hair can predict
IVF success, says study
A study conducted by Indian-origin
researcher found that elevated levels of 'stress hormone' cortisol measured in
hair can predict success rate of conceiving through In Vitro Fertilisation
(IVF). The findings suggests that the levels of a hormone when
measured in hair can significantly predict the likelihood of pregnancy in women
undergoing IVF treatment.
The study was published in the journal
Psychoneuroendocrinology.
This technique provides more reliable
measure of hormonal function compared to other techniques using saliva, blood
and urine that measure only short term levels of the hormone.
The study provide the first proper
evidence that long-term levels of cortisol, which are affected by many
lifestyle factors including diet, exercise, caffeine and most notably stress,
may play an important role in determining reproductive outcomes.
A total of 135 women were observed for
the study, 60 per cent of whom became pregnant following IVF treatment.
Eightyeight women provided hair samples and the rest submitted salivary samples
for the measurement of cortisol. After analysing both types of cortisol data,
researchers found that short-term salivary cortisol measurements were not
related to pregnancy but in contrast the hair cortisol concentrations were.
The findings suggest that 27 per cent
of the variance in pregnancy outcome was accounted for by hair cortisol
concentrations after controlling for other known factors that are linked to IVF
success such as age, body mass index (BMI), number of eggs retrieved and the
number of eggs fertilised.
"Researchers have been interested
in the role that cortisol may play in determining reproductive outcomes for
some time now, not least because cortisol is typically elevated in relation to
stress," said lead researcher Kavita Vedhara, Professor at the University
of Nottingham School of Medicine.
"While these results do not specifically implicate
stress, they do provide preliminary evidence that long-term cortisol levels are
associated with a reduced likelihood of conceiving. A range of factors are
likely to account for that, stress being one possibility," Vedhara added.
Source: www.zeenews.india.com
21.10.2016
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