Wednesday, December 9, 2009

2 studies: PTSD is chemical change in brain - Army News, news from Iraq, - Army Times

2 studies: PTSD is chemical change in brain - Army News, news from Iraq, - Army Times: "Two new studies seem to provide more evidence that post-traumatic stress disorder is a chemical change in the brain caused by trauma — and that it might be possible to diagnose, treat and predict susceptibility to it based on brain scans or blood tests.
In one study, Christine Marx, of the Duke University Medical Center and Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, wondered why PTSD, depression and pain often occur together.
Researchers already knew that people with PTSD show changes in their neurosteroids, which are brain chemicals thought to play a role in how the body responds to stress."