Additional piece: Unlocking the Secrets of Stress Hormones with Wearable Technology
In today’s fast-paced world, stress has become a common companion for many individuals. We all experience periods of stress, but when the levels of stress hormones go awry, it can have serious implications for our health. Diseases caused by dysfunctional levels of stress hormones, such as cortisol, have been linked to conditions like depression, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and critical illness. The challenge has always been accurately measuring and understanding the changes in hormone levels as individuals go about their daily lives. However, thanks to a groundbreaking wearable device developed by endocrine researchers, this challenge may be a thing of the past.
The wearable device, known as U-RHYTHM, has been the result of a collaborative effort by the University of Bristol, the University of Birmingham, and the University of Bergen. This innovative technology has the potential to revolutionize the way diseases of the stress hormone system are diagnosed and treated. U-RHYTHM allows for the measurement of adrenal steroid levels with high resolution and over extended periods of time, providing valuable insights into hormone fluctuations over daily (circadian) and rapid (ultradian) time periods.
Traditionally, understanding the normal rhythm of a healthy daily life has been challenging. Hormone tests taken at a single point in time often fail to capture the complexity of hormone rhythms. This leads to delays in diagnosis and missed opportunities for timely intervention. The previous method of constructing an accurate hormone profile involved taking multiple blood samples in a hospital or research unit, which was time-consuming, inconvenient, and stressful for the patient. U-RHYTHM solves these issues by offering a portable device that can be worn around the waist. It painlessly collects samples from beneath the skin every 20 minutes, without the need for blood collection. Most importantly, it can gather data during sleep, work, and other activities of daily living, allowing for up to 72 hours of continuous monitoring in a single session.
The groundbreaking study conducted using U-RHYTHM involved analyzing samples from 214 healthy volunteers over a 24-hour period. By collecting data at multiple time points, the research team was able to establish adrenal hormone profiles of healthy individuals under real-life conditions. This valuable data was then utilized by mathematicians at the University of Birmingham’s Center for Systems Modeling and Quantitative Biomedicine to develop a new class of “dynamic markers.” These markers enable a better understanding of what a healthy hormone profile should look like based on an individual’s gender, age, body mass index, and other characteristics.
The findings from this research not only reveal what healthy hormonal rhythms look like in the general population but also serve as a baseline for more accurate and timely diagnosis of endocrine conditions. This revolutionary technology has the potential to shift the paradigm of how we understand the stress hormone system in healthy individuals and improve the accuracy of diagnosing and treating diseases related to hormonal dysregulation.
In conclusion, the development of U-RHYTHM opens up a new era of possibilities in the field of endocrine research. This wearable device allows for the non-invasive, continuous monitoring of stress hormones, providing valuable insights into the complex dynamics of hormone fluctuations. By understanding the normal hormone profiles in healthy individuals, doctors and researchers can more effectively identify abnormalities and intervene before significant health issues arise. This breakthrough has the potential to transform the way we approach the diagnosis and treatment of diseases caused by stress hormones, ultimately leading to better personalized healthcare and improved patient outcomes.
Summary:
A new wearable device called U-RHYTHM, developed by endocrine researchers at the University of Bristol, the University of Birmingham, and the University of Bergen, has made it possible to measure changes in people’s stress hormones as they go about their normal daily activities. This has the potential to revolutionize the diagnosis and treatment of diseases caused by dysfunctional levels of stress hormones. Stress hormones, like cortisol, are crucial to life, but disturbances in their rhythms can lead to various health conditions. Previously, understanding the normal rhythm of a healthy daily life was challenging, as hormone tests taken at a single point in time did not consider hormone fluctuations. U-RHYTHM solves this problem by allowing continuous monitoring of adrenal steroid levels over extended periods of time. This device collects samples from beneath the skin every 20 minutes, providing high-resolution data and insights into hormone fluctuations over daily and rapid time periods. The research conducted using U-RHYTHM has enabled the development of new “dynamic markers” that define a healthy hormone profile based on an individual’s characteristics. This knowledge can significantly improve the diagnosis and treatment of endocrine conditions. Overall, U-RHYTHM offers a non-invasive and convenient solution for understanding the stress hormone system and enhancing personalized healthcare approaches.
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The early warning signs of diseases caused by dysfunctional levels of stress hormones could be more easily detected thanks to a new wearable device developed by endocrine researchers.
This is the first time it has been possible to measure changes in people’s stress hormones as they go about their normal daily activities, both day and night. New collaborative research led by the University of Bristol, the University of Birmingham and the University of Bergen has the potential to revolutionize the way diseases of the stress hormone system are diagnosed and treated.
The technology, funded by a grant from the EU’s Horizon 2020 project and published in Science Translational Medicine today [21 June]shows how monitoring adrenal steroid levels at high resolution and over a long period of time can provide better insight into how hormone levels change over daily (circadian) and more rapid (ultradian) time periods.
Stress hormones, such as the cortisol hormone, are crucial to life. Disturbance in your rhythms due to disease and lifestyle factors are linked to conditions such as depression, heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and even critical illness. However, until now scientists have not been able to define what the normal rhythm of a healthy daily life looks like.
One major problem has been that understanding the meaning of a hormone test is very difficult or impossible if taken at a single point of time, as this does not take hormone rhythms into account. This, in turn, leads to a delay in diagnosis and missed opportunities for treatment intervention. Previously, the only way to construct an accurate image has been to take multiple blood samples during admission to a hospital or research unit, which is not only time consuming and inconvenient, but also stressful.
U-RHYTHM has been developed by scientists at the University of Bristol, designed by the company Designworks Windsor and available through the University of Bristol spin-off company Dynamic Therapeutics. The portable device is worn around the waist and automatically and painlessly takes samples from under the skin every 20 minutes, without the need to collect blood. Importantly, the method allows samples to be taken during sleep, work and other activities of daily living for up to 72 hours in a single session.
The study published today demonstrates the potential of the U-RHYTHM device, analyzing samples from 214 healthy volunteers over 24 hours. Using data at multiple time points in that period, the team was able to create adrenal hormone profiles of healthy people under real-life conditions.
Mathematicians at the University of Birmingham’s Center for Systems Modeling and Quantitative Biomedicine used this data to develop a new class of “dynamic markers” to better understand what a healthy hormone profile should look like based on gender, age, body mass index of an individual, as well as other characteristics.
These findings show what healthy hormonal rhythms look like in the population, in real-world settings, and could form a baseline for new and better ways to diagnose endocrine conditions at a much earlier stage.
Dr Thomas Upton, Clinical Research Fellow in Automated Sampling at the University of Bristol and lead endocrinologist on the study, said: “Our results represent a paradigm shift in understanding how the stress hormone system works in healthy people. The information we have collected forms an entirely new reference range that has the potential to revolutionize the way diseases of the stress hormone system are diagnosed and treated.”
Dr Eder Zavala, Assistant Professor of Mathematics at the University of Birmingham and lead mathematician on the study, added: “This is a fascinating new technology that allows us to make new discoveries about how hormone regulation works, while mathematical analysis allows us to to generate new insights into precision diagnostics and design personalized medical interventions that better support patients.”
Stafford Lightman, Professor of Medicine at Bristol Medical School: Translational Health Sciences (THS) and co-author of the study, explained: “Our results provide significant new insights into how the stress hormone system works in healthy people and emphasize the importance of measuring change, not just sampling at single points. It also highlights the importance of measuring hormones during sleep, which was previously impossible outside of a hospital.
“The ability to measure the dynamics of hormone secretion during the day and at night in patients in their own home will not only improve our ability to accurately diagnose any abnormalities in hormone secretion without the need for complex inpatient investigations, but will the entire diagnostic procedure can be performed from primary care and linked to newly available diagnostic algorithms.This will not only provide good personalized medicine, but also allow the patient to follow their own hormonal profiles during diagnosis and therapy and better empower conversations between doctor and patient.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/06/230621164740.htm
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