‘Sniff and spit’ test to measure stress chemicals in the body developed in Sheffield

Sheffield Children’s Hospital has created a test to measure the level of stress chemicals in your body.

Some children who do not produce enough of the stress hormone cortisol may struggle to stay healthy in stressful situations such as being ill or having an operation.

Sheffield Children’s Hospital NHS Foundation Trust plans to test healthy children so they can determine what a ‘normal’ stress response is.

Until now, the Short Synacthen Test has been used, which requires injections of the medicine Synacthen and blood tests.

But the new NeSST2 ‘sniff and spit’ test is needle-free, using nasal sprays and saliva samples instead.

The hospital is looking for 200 healthy children, aged 0 to 16, to take part.

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They will have to collect four saliva samples at home over two days, and then head into the Clinical Research Facility for a two-hour visit.

The hospital will compensate participants, parents and carers with £25 for the study visit to help cover their expenses.

If you are interested in finding out more about this study please contact the study team on [email protected] or 07584590503.