I wonder if a similar technique could be used for Melatonin in saliva so that noninvasive circadian phase testing could be performed outside of the lab.
I'm convinced that if we actually looked at the circadian phase of the general population more closely we'd find A LOT of people with wonky clocks [1][2].
I've come to realize in recent months that I'm rocking a ~3h phase advance. Not terrible but it can sometimes make getting enough total sleep time challenging (bright light therapy in evenings really helps).
This is certainly an improvement over a lab test, but a continuous monitoring solution would dramatically expand the utility.
You could rate employers on the median cortisol levels of their employees during and after the work day.
At an individual level, those of us that are not very self-aware of our stress levels could monitor it objectively and determine stressors and implement and monitor interventions to reduce stress.
Etheryte 2 hours ago [-]
This is one of those ideas that might sound good when you don't think about secondary effects, but is actually commonly accepted to be a bad idea in the medical community. Similar to white coat hypertension [0], measuring your stress can induce stress, whether that's worrying about whether you're in a good range, getting more stressed when you find out you're already stressed, or etc. This is why continuous monitoring is usually applied as little as reasonably possible, unless absolutely necessary like diabetes, ER, etc.
Smartwatches have been measuring all sorts from our bodies for a long time and whilst some people develop this type of thing, the majority have not. These watches have been monitoring stress in the form of HRV for many years now.
heisenbit 1 hours ago [-]
> as little …
This is exactly the opposite of what which is written in the quoted wikipedia article:
> Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and patient self-measurement using a home blood pressure monitoring device is being increasingly used to differentiate those with white coat hypertension or experiencing the white coat effect from those with chronic hypertension
Continuous monitoring is a viable workaround wrt. white coat symptoms. It is just a lot more effort and expensive.
Etheryte 49 minutes ago [-]
Measuring your blood pressure at home is not continuous monitoring.
gessha 33 minutes ago [-]
Continuously measuring blood pressure at home is continuous monitoring.
amelius 45 minutes ago [-]
It can be measured in a blind way.
IHLayman 2 hours ago [-]
Oh sure! While we’re at it, let’s increase the existing dystopia by giving employers the ability to track our stress levels and let them “compensate” as they see fit…
perching_aix 2 hours ago [-]
People being able to measure it on their own != employers being given the right to require doing so and handing over the data. Matter of fact, you could outright ban employers from doing so. But then the topic of moan would become that regulations bad, and this would be then quickly portrayed as an industry backsetting obstacle.
Never a boring day.
camillomiller 3 hours ago [-]
I would apply the usual grain of salt approach to studies like these, but this one sounds insanely promising.
Watching it closely
I'm convinced that if we actually looked at the circadian phase of the general population more closely we'd find A LOT of people with wonky clocks [1][2].
I've come to realize in recent months that I'm rocking a ~3h phase advance. Not terrible but it can sometimes make getting enough total sleep time challenging (bright light therapy in evenings really helps).
1. https://www.sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2025/07/16/depre...
2. Circadian Genes, Rhythms, and the Biology of Bipolar Disorder - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSL5hC8bzcU
You could rate employers on the median cortisol levels of their employees during and after the work day.
At an individual level, those of us that are not very self-aware of our stress levels could monitor it objectively and determine stressors and implement and monitor interventions to reduce stress.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_coat_hypertension
This is exactly the opposite of what which is written in the quoted wikipedia article:
> Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and patient self-measurement using a home blood pressure monitoring device is being increasingly used to differentiate those with white coat hypertension or experiencing the white coat effect from those with chronic hypertension
Continuous monitoring is a viable workaround wrt. white coat symptoms. It is just a lot more effort and expensive.
Never a boring day.