PMID: 28530340May 23, 2017Paper

CAN POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER BE PREVENTED WITH GLUCOCORTICOIDS?

Harefuah
Hagit CohenJoseph Zohar

Abstract

Glucocorticoids (GCs) play a major role in orchestrating the complex physiological and behavioral reactions essential for the maintenance of homeostasis. These compounds enable the organism to prepare for, respond to and cope with the acute demands of physical and emotional stressors. The appropriate GC release, commensurate with stressor severity, enables the body to properly contain stress responses so as to promote recovery by rapidly restoring homeostasis. Indeed, inadequate GC release following stress not only delays recovery by disrupting biological homeostasis in the short run but can also interfere with the processing or interpretation of stressful information that results in long-term disruptions in memory integration. While conventional wisdom holds that people who develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following exposure to extreme trauma might have sustained elevations in GCs, several studies have reported that lower cortisol levels in the acute aftermath of trauma are predictors for subsequent PTSD symptoms. Therefore, it is possible that the administration of exogenous cortisol immediately after exposure to a trauma might alter the trajectory of trauma exposure by promoting recovery. Our group has initiated...Continue Reading

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