Method To Objectively Identify PTSD Discovered By Researchers
Researchers at the University of Minnesota and Minneapolis VA Medical Center have identified a biological marker in the brains of those exhibiting post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
A group of 74 United States veterans were involved in the study, which for the first time objectively diagnoses PTSD using magnetoencephalography (MEG), a non-invasive measurement of magnetic fields in the brain. It's something conventional brain scans such as an X-ray, CT, or MRI have failed to do.
The ability to objectively diagnose PTSD is the first step towards helping those afflicted with this severe anxiety disorder. PTSD often stems from war, but also can be a result of exposure to any psychologically traumatic event. The disorder can manifest itself in flashbacks, recurring nightmares, anger, or hypervigilance.
With more than 90 percent accuracy, researchers were able to differentiate PTSD patients from healthy control subjects (250 people with clean mental health) using the MEG. All behavior and cognition in the brain involves networks of nerves continuously interacting - these interactions occur on a millisecond by millisecond basis. The MEG has 248 sensors that record the interactions in the brain on a millisecond by millisecond basis, much faster than current methods of evaluation such as the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which takes seconds to record.
The measurements recorded by the MEG represent the workings of tens of thousands of brain cells. This recording method allowed researchers to locate unique biomarkers in the brains of patients exhibiting PTSD.
The findings are published January 20 in the Journal of Neural Engineering and led by Apostolos Georgopoulos, M.D., Ph.D., and Brian Engdahl., Ph.D. - both members of the Brain Sciences Center at the Minneapolis VA Medical Center and University of Minnesota.
"These findings document robust differences in brain function between the PTSD and control groups that can be used for differential diagnosis and which possess the potential for assessing and monitoring disease progression and effects of therapy," Georgopoulos said.
Besides diagnosing those with PTSD, the researchers also are able to judge the severity of how much they are suffering, which means the MEG may be able to be used to gauge the how badly patients are impacted by other brain disorders.
It is likely that the study will be replicated and administered to a larger group to assure the accuracy of its results.
This work, specifically on detecting post-traumatic stress disorder, follows success in detecting other brain diseases, such as Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis, using MEG, as reported in September 2007.
The research was funded by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Source: Nick Hanson
University of Minnesota
Comments
Objective PTSD test could help whistleblowers
The significance of these new tests is that some day mental injuries caused by workplace reprisals may be easily demonstrable: perhaps as easily as broken bones are revealed by X-rays today.
A great many whistleblowers suffer calculated reprisals that transform their working day into a never-ending ordeal of isolation, humiliation and fear. No-one can stand up to such treatment indefinitely and most victims are eventually told by their doctors that they cannnot go back to work because the toxic environment is causing them psychological harm.
However, by that time serious damage has often been done, and many whistleblowers suffer from PTSD-like symptoms such as flashbacks, nightmares, insomnia, anxiety and depression. Some may never be able to hold down a normal job again because of the lasting damage done to their health.
This type of workplace injury is devastating, but difficult to prove and so the victims rarely receive adequate compensation – if they even try to pursue a remedy in court.
However, if mental injuries become easy to prove objectively, employers (and individual harassers) may find themselves in trouble – liable to prosecution for damages in the same way that they may be liable for physical injuries sustained on the job.
In my opinion this day cannot arrive too soon.
David Hutton
Objective PTSD Test: Agreed
I agree that this is an excellent development. Because it takes something that was previously considered psychological damage (and hence difficult to understand by the layman) and makes it clearly identifiable physical damage, it will open the door to more appropriate compensation.
It might also mean more personal accountability on the part of those involved in reprisals and abuse, since these people have historically hidden behind bureaucratic anonymity and the common prejudices against psychological injury.