The Association of Hair Cortisol and Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Cardiovascular Disease

Hair cortisol is increasingly becoming a reliable measure of long-term cortisol concentration and is thought to be a suitable biomarker for chronic stress. Further, a growing amount of scientific literature links elevated hair cortisol concentration with well-known cardiometabolic risk factors such as hypertension, obesity, dyslipidemia, and diabetes. This has important implications for the prognosis, treatment, and prevention of cardiovascular disease. This review focuses on the association between increased hair cortisol and stress-related cardiometabolic risk factors for cardiovascular disease. While the evidence for the relationship between cardiometabolic risk and elevated hair cortisol is clear and compelling, the data is inconsistent. Further studies are needed to support the use of hair cortisol as a biomarker of cardiometabolic risk in cardiovascular disease.