The New York Times reports on the start of a five-year study of 15,000 veterans aimed at finding biological signals (“biomarkers”) that could provide reliable, objective evidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). About 500,000 veterans have been diagnosed with one or both of these conditions over the past decade, but because these diagnoses are currently based on self-reports, there is uncertainty about their validity. Identifying biomarkers and developing tests to recognize them will allow clinicians to catch them earlier and reduce misdiagnoses.
Researchers at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, the military’s medical school, are looking for biomarkers among soldiers stationed in Ft. Bragg, N.C. They plan to look at five groups, each consisting of 300 veterans: (1) those with PTSD, (2) those with TBI, (3) those with both, (4) those with depression but not PTSD or TBI, and (5) those with combat deployments who show no symptoms of any of those disorders. All will undergo a battery of tests to analyze hormone levels, blood chemistry, genetic makeup, and brain structure.
Financing for the study is guaranteed by a $17 million grant from the Steven A. and Alexandra M. Cohen Foundation.
