|
Traumatized people who take a class of common blood pressuremedications tend to have less severe post-traumatic stress symptoms, researchers have found. The finding suggests that ACE (angiotensin converting enzyme)inhibitors or ARBs (angiotensin receptor blockers) could bevaluable tools for treating or preventing post-traumatic stress disorder . The results were published online in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. "These results are particularly exciting because it's the firsttime ACE inhibitors and ARBs have been connected to PTSD, and itgives us a new direction to build on," says senior author KerryRessler, MD, PhD, associate professor of psychiatry and behavioralsciences at Emory University School of Medicine and a researcher atYerkes National Primate Research Center. "These data come from an observational study, not a randomizedclinical trial, so it is important to limit our interpretationuntil larger, placebo-control, double-blinded trials can beperformed. Still, they provide evidence from a human populationthat could be followed up in a rigorous controlled trial. Thisclass of medications has been widely prescribed for hypertension for years and their safety profiles are well known, so our resultscould be translated into action relatively quickly." The findings emerge from the Grady Trauma Project, an observationalstudy of more than 5,000 low-income Atlanta residents with highlevels of exposure to violence and physical and sexual abuse,resulting in high rates of civilian PTSD. All 505 participants in this study were exposed to at least onetraumatic event, and around 35 percent of them (180) met thecriteria for diagnosis with PTSD. Out of 98 participants taking ACEinhibitors or ARBs, generally for the primary purpose of bloodpressure control, 26 had a PTSD diagnosis. People with PTSD can experience three types of symptoms:hyperarousal, avoidance/numbing, and intrusive thoughts. All theparticipants in the study reported how often they experienced thesesymptoms and the responses were compiled into a PTSD symptom score. Patients taking ACE inhibitors or ARBs had an approximately 30percent decrease in PTSD symptom scores, but no significantdifferences were apparent for those taking other blood pressuremedications, including beta-blockers , calcium channel blockers, and diuretics. In particular,individuals taking ACE inhibitors or ARBs tended to have lowerlevels of hyperarousal and intrusive thoughts. The results underline the physiological basis for the body's stressresponses in PTSD, and links to blood pressure regulation. Both ACEinhibitors and ARBs interfere with angiotensin II, a hormone thatregulates blood pressure. Ressler says his laboratory has beguninvestigating the role of angiotensin II in mice, in regions of thebrain known to be important for stress and fear responses, such asthe amygdala and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis. These datasuggest that this class of medication may both decrease the body'sphysiological response to stress in the cardiovascular system aswell as decrease the brain's response to stress. The negative finding with beta blockers was somewhat surprising, Ressler says. Some musicians and athletestake beta blockers to relieve performance anxiety symptoms, and some early clinical studies have examined whetherthey can be used to treat PTSD. Beta blockers diminish the body'sresponse to the stress hormones norepinephrine and epinephrine. "Beta blockers did appear to have a trend toward an effect, but theeffects of the angiotensin medications were stronger, and whenpeople in our study took both, only the angiotensin medicationssurvived statistical analysis" Ressler says. "Beta blockers may beuseful in the moment for decreasing social or performance anxiety,but their efficacy in PTSD treatment is still an open question." Additional References Citations. The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as China CMOS CCTV Camera , Wireless IP Surveillance Cameras Manufacturer, and more. For more , please visit HD CCTV Cameras today!
Related Articles -
China CMOS CCTV Camera, Wireless IP Surveillance Cameras Manufacturer,
|
