Salivary cortisol was measurable in the morning in school-aged children and the median concentration was dependent on age, stage of puberty, but not on sex.

In healthy children, salivary cortisol concentration was dependent on time, age and menarche. In children with RAP of psychosomatic origin, morning and total secretion of cortisol were significantly higher than in healthy children and negatively correlated to BMI.

Background:Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder. There is limited knowledge about the function of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in PD. The primary aim of this prospective study was to analyze diurnal salivary cortisol concentrations in patients with PD and correlate these with age, gender, body mass index (BMI), duration of PD, and pain. The secondary aim was to compare the results with a healthy reference group.Methods:Fifty-nine PD patients, 35 women and 24 men, aged 50–79 years, were recruited. The reference group comprised healthy individuals matched for age, gender, BMI, and time point for sampling. Salivary cortisol was collected at 8 am, 1 pm, and 8 pm, and 8 am the next day using cotton-based Salivette® tubes and analyzed using Spectria® Cortisol I125. A visual analog scale was used for estimation of pain.Results:The median cortisol concentration was 16.0 (5.8–30.2) nmol/L at 8 am, 5.8 (3.0–16.4) at 1 pm, 2.8 (1.6–8.0) at 8 pm, and 14.0 (7.5–28.7) at 8 am the next day. Total secretion and rate of cortisol secretion during the day (8 am–8 pm) and the concentration of cortisol on the next morning were lower (12.5 nmol/L) in the reference group. No significant correlations with age, gender, BMI, duration of PD, Hoehn and Yahr score, Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale III score, gait, pain, or cortisol concentrations were found.Conclusion:The neurodegenerative changes in PD does not seem to interfere with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. Salivary cortisol concentrations in PD patients were increased in the morning compared with the reference group, and were not influenced by motor dysfunction, duration of disease, or coexistence of chronic or acute pain.

The aim was to investigate whether kangaroo care (KC) with and without nasogastric tube feeding (NG) is tolerated by sick preterm infants during the first week of life. Seventeen infants with current or resolving illness received 1 h of KC. The study patients were originally recruited for a study on the response of intestinal peptides to feeding during KC. Median gestational age was 28 wk and median birthweight 1238 g. During KC, eight infants received NG. During KC, oxygen requirements were unchanged or decreased in 15 infants and increased in 2 infants. Changes in arterial blood gases, transcutaneous pO2/pCO2, heart rate and temperature were minimal. One episode of apnoea occurred. In conclusion, KC was well tolerated, as was NG, during KC.