For those people who think they are stressed, there is now a new breath test that can make an accurate diagnosis.

Researchers from Loughborough University and Imperial College London have identified six compounds found in human breathing. These substances could indicate whether a person is stressed or not, according to local media.

Non-invasive tests can potentially help patients who have difficulty revealing their response to stress – such as Alzheimer’s, for example.

A study published in the journal Respiratory Research included modeling a stressful situation by introducing a “tricky” math test. The researchers found that the amount of two compounds (2-methyl-pentadecane and indole) contained in the air exhaled by a person increased after a person was put into a stressful situation, and the number of four other compounds decreased.

Since the stress test was rather passive, lead author of the study, Paul Thomas, said further tests were needed to better understand how stress affects the body.

“From this study it is clear that we cannot discount stress,” Thomas said. “It seems reasonable to check out this work with more people across the entire age range under more normal conditions.”

If the results of the study are confirmed, this can be important for medicine, and will help to avoid excessive consumption of unnecessary drugs against stress by people who are prone to any other troubles.

Recently, breath tests have also been developed to detect diseases such as tuberculosis, cancer, lung disease, and bronchial asthma.