It may be possible to estimate the level of stress from earwax

Scientists believe that analysis of earwax can provide information about a person's mental health. 

Thirty-seven people took part in the study, which found that fluids around your eardrum could be used to determine the formation of the stress hormone cortisol. According to Dr. Andreas Hernandez, lead author of the study, it could open up new avenues for better diagnoses of other mental illnesses, including depression. They have also developed a new type of swab that will not damage the eardrum. Cortisol is known as the fight or flight hormone. When it sends an alarm signal to the brain in response to a stress, it can affect almost every system, from the immune system to digestion and sleep. But its role in diseases such as anxiety and depression has not been fully elucidated.

University College London Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience psychologist Dr Hernandez wants to understand what high or low cortisol levels mean. 

Although the research is still in its infancy, they hope it could eventually help establish an important biological safety measure for psychological problems. Mental health assessment is currently a broad topic so it could provide doctors with an additional tool to help them make better and more accurate diagnoses. The right diagnosis is "the only way to provide the right treatment," says Dr. Hernandez.

Cortisol in the blood can be measured, but it can also give an idea of ​​a person's hormone levels at a particular moment. And since blood tests can be stressful, it is possible to get a 'false positive' result. Dr. Heran Weiss wanted to see if the patient's chronic cortisol level could be measured by looking at the cells in the body where it accumulates. So first they researched that cortisol can be measured with a hair sample, but to do this you need three centimeters of hair that not everyone has or does not want to lose. "But the level of cortisol in the earwax appears to be more stable," he says. They store sugar in their waxy canopy where it can be stored at room temperature. 

According to researchers, over time, the earwax stores hormones and other substances that contain "more cortisol than hair samples." After a while this method can be developed to measure other things such as glucose levels or antibodies against the virus.