Hormones as Predictors of PTSD

The link of a hormonal connection to PTSD continues to get stronger and this write up of a new paper worth a read. As important as it may be, also important to keep it in context to the overall picture: PTSD is not as simple as just a few hormones out of wack, but this is an important finding with wide ranging implications:

PTSD risk can be predicted by hormone levels prior to deployment, study says

"Cortisol -- the stress hormone -- is released as part of the body's flight-or-fight response to life-threatening emergencies. Seminal research in the 1980s connected abnormal cortisol levels to an increased risk for PTSD, but three decades of subsequent research produced a mixed bag of findings, dampening enthusiasm for the role of cortisol as a primary cause of PTSD.

However, new findings published in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology point to cortisol's critical role in the emergence of PTSD, but only when levels of testosterone -- one of most important of the male sex hormones -- are suppressed, researchers said."

Cont:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...0307152512.htm

Source Study:

Dual-hormone stress reactivity predicts downstream war-zone stress-evoked PTSD

http://www.psyneuen-journal.com/arti...676-X/fulltext