SALIVARY CORTISOL LEVELS IN MOTHERS OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM - A BIOCHEMICAL STUDY

Abstract

Background: Cortisol is a hormonal marker of stress which gets released into the blood by adrenal glands during a stressful situation. Mothers of children with autism will usually be experiencing great psychological trauma and therefore will be under high levels of stress. This stress might disturb the health and normal physiology of these mothers thus there is a need for study on the stress markers like cortisol in mothers of children with autism.Materials and Methods: Saliva of 20 mothers of children with autism and 20 mothers of healthy children were collected during early hours of the day (8 – 8.30 am) and during evenings (4 – 4.15 pm) subjected for cortisol assay using ELISA test. RESULTS: Mothers of children with autism were found to have significantly lower levels of salivary cortisol throughout the day as compared to mothers of healthy children.Conclusion: There is a need for interventions for mothers of children with autism