When we feel very stress, you may sometimes find it harder to breathe or gasp. But some less noticeable changes would occur in our breathing. Researchers at Loughborough University in Leicestershire, England have discovered six biomarkers present in respiration that modulate under high stress.
They made this observation after placing 22 young adults in stressful conditions. They were subjected to an arithmetic test. Then they were able to relax by listening to relaxing classical music.
Breathing, a screening tool for certain diseases
Before and after each session, the scientists measured the participants’ blood pressure and heart rate. At the same time, they analyzed the chemical components of their breathing using a specific technique of gas phase chromatography associated with mass spectrometry.
The analyzes revealed two components present in the breath of the people right after the stressful situation. These components, absent during the relaxing music session, would therefore be markers of stress.
In recent years, several works have concluded that breathing can detect certain diseases: respiratory infections, breast cancer… Cancers of the intestine and lung have even been detected by breathas revealed by an experiment conducted with sniffer dogs.
