WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Twenty-five years after the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center (WTC), many emergency responders are still living with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), causing severe biological changes in them, according to a new study.
The study, published in the journal Nature Communications, was conducted by researchers from the Stony Brook World Trade Center Health and Wellness Program and Duke University. The program monitors the health of around 10,000 World Trade Center responders and provides them with medical care.
Previous research has shown that PTSD is linked to a higher risk of chronic diseases and faster biological aging, but scientists have not fully understood why. In this study, researchers collected blood samples from World Trade Center responders about 18 years after the 9/11 attacks. They analyzed samples from 393 responders, including 232 people diagnosed with PTSD and 161 trauma-exposed responders without PTSD.
The researchers found that 114 proteins and seven other molecules, called metabolites, were different in people with PTSD. These changes affected several important body systems, including brain function, the immune system, metabolism, the body's ability to handle oxidative stress, and other processes that help keep organs healthy. The changes were also linked to the kind of metabolic problems often seen in chronic diseases.
The study also found that PTSD was linked to faster biological aging in several organs, especially the pancreas and lungs. Faster aging of the pancreas suggests that long-term exposure to severe trauma may cause the organ to lose function earlier than normal.
'These changes to certain fundamental biological processes are an indicator and can explain at least in part why PTSD is associated with greater incidence of cognitive problems, heart disease, lung ailments and other chronic diseases that will cause patients to age more quickly,' senior author Benjamin Luft explained. 'This is why it is so important, especially going forward many years after the attack of 9/11, to approach the medical monitoring and care of these patients from both their mental and physical health together.'
According to the researchers, these findings show that PTSD affects much more than the brain. It can cause widespread biological changes throughout the body, helping explain why people with long-term PTSD may face a higher risk of chronic illnesses and faster aging.
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