While most of us don’t think about our earwax very much it’s actually a great source of information about our health.

New research has tested an ear wax collecting device that enables accurate testing of cortisol levels.

Cortisol is a stress hormone and can help to diagnose psychiatric conditions like anxiety and depression.

Testing earwax could remove the need for blood tests which can be stressful in themselves and only give a snapshot in time whereas earwax accumulates presenting different cortisol levels over time. This could lead to much better diagnosis and monitoring of stress related conditions.

Nanogirl Michelle Dickinson joined Francesca Rudkin to discuss the research.

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