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While it’s easy to recognize when we’re under intense stress, identifying low-level, chronic stress that lingers in the background is much more challenging. To help with this, researchers at Tufts University have developed a new type of dental floss that can analyze your saliva and provide insight into your stress levels.
The Biological Impact of Chronic Stress
Chronic stress is known to cause a range of negative effects on the body—from disrupting sleep and doubling the risk of Alzheimer’s disease to triggering ongoing inflammation. In light of this, scientists have been working on simple and accessible ways to track stress levels as part of daily life, without relying on complex lab tests.
Most of these approaches focus on measuring cortisol, a hormone produced by the adrenal glands in response to stress. In healthy amounts, cortisol is essential for regulating several bodily functions, but chronically high levels can lead to problems like weight gain, insulin resistance, and a higher risk of diabetes.
The researchers propose incorporating stress monitoring into a daily dental routine using a floss pick that looks ordinary but is actually fitted with a special microchannel inside the floss. This channel directs saliva to a tiny electrochemical sensor embedded in the handle of the device.
How the Sensor Detects Cortisol in Saliva
To build this sensor, the team used a technology called electropolymerized molecularly imprinted polymer (eMIP). Essentially, they molded the sensor using cortisol molecules and then removed them, leaving behind specific imprints. When the user flosses, saliva flows through the thread and reaches the sensor, where any cortisol present fits into those imprints and produces an electrical signal. The more cortisol that binds, the stronger the signal—indicating a higher stress level. The device then sends this signal to a mobile device like a smartphone.
Atul Sharma
The process takes about 10 minutes and, during testing, proved to be just as accurate as the ELISA saliva test—one of the current gold standards for cortisol detection. According to the researchers, this makes their device one of the most effective cortisol monitors developed to date.
Potential to Expand Beyond Stress Monitoring
They also envision expanding the technology to detect other biomarkers in saliva, which could make at-home health monitoring part of people’s everyday routines.
If brought to market, this smart dental floss would give users an easy way to keep an eye on their cortisol levels. And if those levels start to rise, they could respond with simple lifestyle or dietary changes—like exercising more, practicing relaxation techniques, cutting back on caffeine, or increasing omega-3 intake. This would be a major improvement over current kits that require collecting blood or urine and mailing it to a lab for analysis.
Read the original article on: New Atlas
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