Gene Linked As Cause Of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Boston (dbTechno) - Researchers have managed to discover a gene which leads to an increased risk of post-traumatic stress disorder. Researchers stated that this discovery will help explain why some people recover perfectly fine from a traumatic event, while others suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

The study was conducted in an Atlanta hospital with 900 low-income adults.

The gene they have discovered as a cause of post-traumatic stress disorder is the FKB5 gene.

They looked at those adults who had gone through a traumatic event. This type of event included child abuse or something of that nature.

They found that this type of event caused a mutation to that particular gene, which caused the adults to be diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Rebekah Bradley of the Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, who took part in the study, stated that humans go through a different type of response depending on their persona.

They have responses to stress, including the fight, flight, or freeze responses.

The more the adults had gone through child abuse at a younger age, the more likely they were to be diagnosed with the stress disorder.

Post-traumatic stress disorder is an anxiety disorder which can appear following a person going through a horrific event.

Many troops returning from the war in Iraq are now experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, and this gene may increase their risk.