Guest guest Posted March 25, 2008 Report Share Posted March 25, 2008 - smartnews SNETNEWS Tuesday, March 25, 2008 2:22 PM SNET: Seeds of PTSD Planted in Childhood Seeds of PTSD Planted in Childhood By Constance Holden - ScienceNOW Daily News 3/18/08 Not everyone is vulnerable to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)--the extreme anxiety, depression, and nightmares that can follow a harrowing event. Although some people develop symptoms after seemingly minor traumas, others can handle wars, hurricanes, or various forms of physical abuse without losing their emotional balance. Now, researchers have shown that mutations in a stress-related gene may help determine whether someone who suffered from abuse as a child is susceptible to PTSD later in life. Teasing out the genetics of PTSD has been difficult. Children who are abused are more susceptible to PTSD as adults, and researchers estimate that up to 40% of this susceptibility is inherited. But just what genes are responsible is not known....The researchers collected data on 762 people, most of them from poor black neighborhoods, who came to the clinic over a 2-year period for nonpsychiatric reasons. Through interviews and questionnaires, the subjects reported experiences with childhood abuse as well as other types of trauma in later life. Clinicians determined whether such traumas had triggered PTSD in adulthood. Subjects also gave saliva samples so their DNA could be tested. Some 30% of the patients reported physical or sexual abuse, or both, as a child. This group showed twice the number of PTSD symptoms following later traumas, such as an accident or also see http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/299/11/1291 and http://www.medpagetoday.com/Genetics/GeneticTesting/dh/8824 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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