How much do your genes impact PTSD?
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD is a condition associated with high stress situations, whether that be military service, abusive relationships or childhood trauma. The disorder was originally defined as a "disorder that resulted from exposure to a traumatic environmental event" and this was meant to be universal and persistent diagnosis.
Up until approximately the 1990's it would have been absurd to claim that genes could be a contributing factor to PTSD but two studies changed the overall relationship between genes and PTSD. The first study showed that cortisol levels in people with PTSD were actually lower than people without it. If that seems strange it should, and was for the researchers at the time. Cortisol is associated with stress and it was theorized that people with PTSD would have high levels of cortisol overall since it was thought to be a condition caused solely by extreme stress or trauma. The second experiment was actually unrelated to the first but ended up providing an answer to the paradox. The observation is almost deceptively simple and it was that only some people exposed to trauma develop PTSD.
The second observation is almost so obvious it is hard to understand how it could be useful, however these observations began to challenge the idea that PTSD was a normal response to stress. This allowed more people to question what exactly causes PTSD and opened the door to looking at PTSD on a genetic level.
There were, at the time this paper was published in 2011, many theories and experimental procedures being tested to identify the mechanisms of PTSD. A big one was examining genotype variations between people who developed PTSD and those who did not. Another type of study that was prevalent were genotyping studies that observed genotype -environment interactions.
This article in particular does not go into results of any of these experiments, simply outlines what could be done and the steps that have begun to be taken to determine the genetic connection to PTSD development and recovery. If PTSD is determined to be connected to a gene sequence and can be screened for, could this become a procedure for screening military or other high stress jobs and what would be the ethics behind this. The article also sites childhood abuse and if a child that is predisposed to PTSD then even if removed from the abusive behavior the child could still exhibit antisocial behavior and other side effects of the disorder.
The research is still novel and should be examined further so that those with PTSD can be more effectively treated. Looking at mental illnesses in general in this way could also lead to a deeper understanding of the disorders and better treatment options for people who are suffering from disorders such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and many others.
1. Rachel, Yehuda, et al. "The Role of Genes in Defining a Molecular Biology of PTSD." Disease Markers, Vol 30, Iss 2-3, Pp 67-76 (2011), no. 2-3, 2011, p. 67. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3233/DMA-2011-0794.
Up until approximately the 1990's it would have been absurd to claim that genes could be a contributing factor to PTSD but two studies changed the overall relationship between genes and PTSD. The first study showed that cortisol levels in people with PTSD were actually lower than people without it. If that seems strange it should, and was for the researchers at the time. Cortisol is associated with stress and it was theorized that people with PTSD would have high levels of cortisol overall since it was thought to be a condition caused solely by extreme stress or trauma. The second experiment was actually unrelated to the first but ended up providing an answer to the paradox. The observation is almost deceptively simple and it was that only some people exposed to trauma develop PTSD.
The second observation is almost so obvious it is hard to understand how it could be useful, however these observations began to challenge the idea that PTSD was a normal response to stress. This allowed more people to question what exactly causes PTSD and opened the door to looking at PTSD on a genetic level.
There were, at the time this paper was published in 2011, many theories and experimental procedures being tested to identify the mechanisms of PTSD. A big one was examining genotype variations between people who developed PTSD and those who did not. Another type of study that was prevalent were genotyping studies that observed genotype -environment interactions.
This article in particular does not go into results of any of these experiments, simply outlines what could be done and the steps that have begun to be taken to determine the genetic connection to PTSD development and recovery. If PTSD is determined to be connected to a gene sequence and can be screened for, could this become a procedure for screening military or other high stress jobs and what would be the ethics behind this. The article also sites childhood abuse and if a child that is predisposed to PTSD then even if removed from the abusive behavior the child could still exhibit antisocial behavior and other side effects of the disorder.
The research is still novel and should be examined further so that those with PTSD can be more effectively treated. Looking at mental illnesses in general in this way could also lead to a deeper understanding of the disorders and better treatment options for people who are suffering from disorders such as depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and many others.
1. Rachel, Yehuda, et al. "The Role of Genes in Defining a Molecular Biology of PTSD." Disease Markers, Vol 30, Iss 2-3, Pp 67-76 (2011), no. 2-3, 2011, p. 67. EBSCOhost, doi:10.3233/DMA-2011-0794.
I found your post to be quite insightful. I have always wondered why only some individuals who experience traumatic experiences develop PTSD while others do not. Now that you have mentioned that individuals with PTSD actually have lower cortisol levels that individuals without, it has become apparent that there could possibly be factors other than stress that induce the disorder.
ReplyDeleteI really liked your post. I never thought that when two people go through the same event and one got PTSD and the other didn't, it had something to do with their genes. This was so interesting to learn. Great job!
ReplyDeleteGenes are pretty much the background of anything huh. It gives us basic insight to our personality and it can tend to stay constant throughout life.
DeleteWhether we react by attacking or running can also be based on nature. You can see strong similarities in families which tend to act similarly.
Overall I fell this brings the whole nature vs nurture debate up. Some people could experience the same experience but have different effects which would seem nature has to be somewhat involved if the environment was the same, but the lives of these individuals may also factor in why they reacted the way they did.
ReplyDeleteWow! What a great overview of new research on PTSD. I am blown away by the findings that people with PTSD actually have lower levels of the stress hormone, cortisol. I agree it will be interesting if they find a specific genetic predisposition to PTSD, would it be ethical to screen for that for high stress jobs? And who is the governing body to decide what is considered a "high stress" job and establish where to draw the line? As molecular biology has allowed for the advancement of genetic research, we are seeing more and more the complicated interplay between genetics/biological processes and a person's emotional/physical environment on their behavior.
ReplyDeleteThis is a really well written and provocative post. It would be so beneficial to your readers to provide links to sources.
ReplyDelete