There is a device to measure how much you are stressed: a kind of dental floss that, passed on the gums, detects cortisol levels.
The engineers of the Tufts University of Medford (USA) invented a special interdental floss capable of precisely measuring cortisol levels, the stress hormone. The device resembles a common fork for dental hygiene, with a thread stretched between two tips that extend from the plastic handle. The saliva is collected by capillarity through a very narrow channel in the wire, arriving in the handle where electrodes are hidden that detect cortisol.
Why cortisol? Monitoring is important because stress can lead to an increase in blood pressure, cardiovascular diseases, weakening of the immune system, depression and anxiety.
Estrogen and glucose. The device, the engineers say, can also be used to detect other molecules in saliva, such as estrogen for the monitoring of fertility, glucose for diabetes monitoring or some tumor markers.
