Researchers at the University of Nottingham have launched a new study to examine how the current lockdown measures are affecting the population's mental and physical health.
The Covid Stress Study will look into how peoples' bodies are reacting to the stresses of the pandemic, and how it could have a long-term impact on our wellbeing.
The psychology study is examining how our bodies' exposure to stress can impact on the endocrine system, in particular the fluctuation of the hormone cortisol.
Cortisol is a hormone that plays a role in regulating key systems in our bodies, including the immune system, and university researchers say changes in this hormone could affect your body’s ability to fight illnesses.
Professor Kavita Vedhara, expert of health psychology at the university, is leading the joint study with King's College London.
"We have been looking at the way stresses via this hormone can affect your long-term vulnerability to illnesses, to any wound healing and to how you recover", she said.
"It is possible that long-term stress can affect your physical wellbeing and make your body react to treatment and drugs in an abnormal way.
"What we are seeing from evidence is that people who are experiencing a change of mood for a long period are also experiencing a change in their biology.
"If we can measure this, we can hypothesise that this long term exposure and changing of cortisol levels may have a long-lasting impact on the health and wellbeing of society."
The study, which has already received more than 800 people take part, asks participants to answer a series of questions relating to their current mental and physical wellbeing.
Participants are then asked to send a sample of hair to the researchers, where lab studies will examine the cortisol hormone.
Professor Vedhara says researchers would like to see the number of people taking part in the study doubled by the end of the month.
"When the pandemic started, the government quickly mobilised on protecting the impact on healthcare and the economy, but we thought it needed to go further", she added.
"We feel it is a really important issue, because it's about saying 'has this pandemic affected the physical condition of the population?'
"This could have implications with our future. It could mean our bodies are more likely to get ill, we could react differently to treatments and it could have an impact on our immune systems.
"We have got two weeks left and if we could double the number of people who have taken part it could give us really conclusive evidence."
People wanting to take part can find out more about the study by visiting covidstressstudy.co.uk, where you can also sign up for the study.
Hair samples must be 1cm in length and 3mm wide, however the researchers are not going to collect the samples until after the lockdown.
