November 2025 in “Canadian Journal of Diabetes” Measuring cortisol in hair helps understand stress and manage related health issues.
Wage increases and cash benefits reduced stress in early childhood educators.
Hair cortisol may help identify adrenal insufficiency in sickle cell disease patients.
Distal hair cortisol is not a reliable measure of early pregnancy cortisol levels.
August 2016 in “Psychoneuroendocrinology” April 2011 in “Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature” Hair cortisol is a reliable long-term stress marker during pregnancy.
296 citations
,
October 2018 in “General and Comparative Endocrinology” Hair cortisol is a reliable way to measure long-term stress in animals.
157 citations
,
June 2015 in “Psychoneuroendocrinology” Hair cortisol and cortisone levels increase with age, are higher in diabetics, vary by gender, decrease with frequent hair washing, and are lower in winter.
85 citations
,
January 2014 in “Hormone Research in Paediatrics” Hair cortisol levels in children increase with age but are not affected by gender, puberty, or hair care.
51 citations
,
November 2005 in “Journal of Medical Primatology” Alopecia in captive rhesus macaques is affected by season, sex, age, housing, and stress, with complex links between stress hormones and hair loss.
38 citations
,
September 2013 in “Therapeutic Drug Monitoring” First Nation individuals had higher hair cortisol levels, indicating more chronic stress.
30 citations
,
July 2016 in “Psychoneuroendocrinology” 24 citations
,
January 2019 in “Hormone Research in Paediatrics” Hair cortisol levels in children are influenced by puberty, age, gender, and body mass index.
23 citations
,
August 2017 in “Scientific Reports” Darker hair may lead to higher cortisol readings, suggesting a need to adjust for hair color in studies.
22 citations
,
May 2019 in “Animals” High hair cortisol levels indicate stress in cows due to poor shelter conditions and health issues.
21 citations
,
January 2017 in “MethodsX” Methanol is better than isopropanol for washing grizzly bear hair to measure cortisol.
21 citations
,
June 2016 in “Journal of Medical Primatology” Captive management practices affect hair loss and stress in rhesus monkeys, with differences between facilities.
16 citations
,
January 2021 in “Frontiers in veterinary science” Pigs in farrowing crates and loose-housing systems showed no difference in chronic stress levels as measured by hair cortisol.
11 citations
,
April 2020 in “Animals” Moving horses to new places can increase their stress levels, as shown by higher stress hormone in their hair.
11 citations
,
February 2005 in “Clinical pharmacology and therapeutics/Clinical pharmacology & therapeutics” Hair cortisol could be a marker for chronic stress in pregnancy, but depression affects cortisol levels differently.
7 citations
,
September 2025 in “Psychoneuroendocrinology” Hair analytes decrease with storage, so analyze within six months.
4 citations
,
June 2025 in “JMIR Formative Research” Hair cortisol concentration may reflect some physiological stress but doesn't strongly correlate with perceived stress.
3 citations
,
November 2021 in “Stress” Girls had higher stress hormone levels during school due to social and emotional issues, while boys had higher overall hormone levels with slight changes when school started.
3 citations
,
June 2021 in “Journal of affective disorders” Hair cortisol and cortisone levels may affect how work stress influences depression in Chinese fishermen.
2 citations
,
June 2022 in “Scientific reports” Women with PCOS have higher hair cortisol levels, which are linked to worse metabolic and inflammatory conditions.
2 citations
,
December 2021 in “Scientific reports” Scalp hair sweating is a significant predictor of hair cortisol levels.
1 citations
,
July 2019 in “Psychoneuroendocrinology” 1 citations
,
September 2016 in “Brain Behavior and Immunity” Hair cortisol levels can indicate stress and are affected by washing frequency, not cosmetic treatments.
June 2026 in “Scientific Reports” Open-label placebos can reduce stress and improve exam performance.
April 2026 in “Comprehensive Psychoneuroendocrinology” Hair cortisol levels may be linked to stress, but results are inconsistent.