Women may face higher PTSD risk, and biomarker could help predict it
Research from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine suggests a specific stress hormone pattern may signal vulnerability to post-traumatic stress disorder—at least in female animal models—and could help explain why women are diagnosed with PTSD at roughly twice the rate of men.
A recent University of Cincinnati study suggests a potential biomarker could predict vulnerability to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in female animal models. Researchers discovered that low resting levels of corticosterone, combined with a higher spike following a stress-inducing event, may signal women at risk for PTSD before they experience trauma.
This hormonal pattern, which did not predict outcomes in male animals, could one day serve as a clinical test for identifying individuals at higher risk for PTSD. The findings indicate that stress hormone dynamics may operate differently in males and females, with potential implications for developing targeted interventions to reduce the likelihood of developing PTSD.
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