Genetic changes show up in people with PTSD

Genetic changes show up in people with PTSD

People with post-traumatic stress disorder seem to accumulate an array of genetic changes different from those found in healthy people, researchers report online May 3 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The new findings, while showing differences between people with and without PTSD, don't shed light on whether these differences might play a role in PTSD, says study coauthor Sandro Galea, a physician and epidemiologist at Columbia University in New York City. Only a fraction of people who witness a traumatic event develop PTSD. In an attempt to identify what makes people who develop PTSD biologically different from those who don’t, Galea and his colleagues obtained blood samples from 100 people in the Detroit area. All had been exposed to at least one potentially traumatic event, and 23 were diagnosed with PTSD. The scientists tested 14,000 genes in these blood samples for chemical changes to DNA that can affect gene activity without altering the genetic information itself.

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Very interesting, I would like to learn more, having PTSD myself.

reply to post by calstorm


Well I'm sorry to hear that. Hopefully with more research they may actually be able to treat it more effectively.

I don't think it is so much as a disorder, as it is an adaptation. Having PTSD, due to several issues, my senses are and were heightened, post traumatic events. The heightened awareness, though stressful, is key to being aware of your surroundings.

We, as a species, or any other species wouldn't be here if it wasn't for learning from predatory cues or dangers of the past.

Its as simple as a kid burning their hand on a stove, the next time they encounter one(stove), they will avoid it, or approach with caution next time....lest they are clueless

[edit on 13-5-2010 by ahmonrarh]

My father had that, from the war, and that impacted on many people..

So it might be interesting to research how many other people have suffered, including their wives and their children.

Found on Google:

"An adult human contains around 100,000,000,000,000 cells, each cell has 46 chromosomes so that would yeild 4,600,000,000,000,000 strands" (of DNA)

So does change all of them, or some of them or what? Can someone knowledgeable elaborate on what this means?

reply to post by misha.baikal


It would only change some of them, most like the nerves involved in the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. If you alter the levels of neurotransmitters that these nerves secrete, you'll alter the sensitivity of the nerves, meaning your senses, mood, blood pressure, and heart rate could all shift, amongst other issues (GI, bladder, etc.)

This does not surprise me at all.

Mind over matter, so to speak.

You can only have so many flight or fight respnses from your brain, before your body is going to be affected by it.