immunological response

Genetic Markers and Immune Response Reveal Origins of PTSD

Medicine & Technology Mar 11, 2015

While Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has become highly stigmatized as a mental health condition within the armed forces, where soldiers often return home from battle with the debilitating condition, it appears that not only may some soldiers be genetically predisposed to it—some may have immunological reactions that even make it worse. In a new study published this week in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, a team of researchers with the University of Southampton (UK) and University of California, San Diego have uncovered the genetic markers that could theoretically allow them to identify soldiers or patients that may be most at risk, even before they’re deployed at all.