[T]he holy grail of stress diagnostics would be a reliable biomarker; a biological measuring stick that would sum up all the physiological and emotional changes caused by stress and plot them on a simple chart. But is this possible? Oxford Medistress, developers of the Leukocyte Coping Capacity (LCC) test, think so.
The company, a spinout from Oxford University, say they have developed a simple test that, with just a drop of blood, can quantify your stress levels.
…
The LCC test involves mixing a drop of blood with a chemical called Phorbol Myristate Acetate (PMA). PMA stimulates white blood cells to produce oxygen free radical molecules, a process that is usually designed to fight off microbials. This free radical burst response is measured by the addition of a luminescent marker to the mix. Stressed out and tired blood cells aren’t as good at producing these free radicals, and so the relative luminescence goes down.
…
Medistress’s ultimate aim is to make the test into a medical device. But, [CEO Rubina Mian] says, “That takes numbers and money. There’s a way to go before it becomes a medical device.”
Read full, original post: A New Test Claims to Be Able to Measure Stress in a Drop of Blood