Advances In Diagnostic Tests for PTSD
Video Transcript
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: After years
of denial, Michael Rodriguez has
finally found ways to deal
with the symptoms
of his post-traumatic stress
disorder.
He's a retired special forces
green beret.
He forges steel to help him
manage the often gruesome
memories that flood
his thoughts.
MICHAEL RODRIQUEZ: It's so physical. It requires a lot of force and heat and intensity. I'm facing and processing a lot of the stuff that I remember. The pain goes away. I'm forging myself.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: For four years, Michael misled doctors about his PTSD, fearing he would lose his job. There is no concrete diagnostic test that would have forced him to get treatment.
In 21 years of service in the army, Michael was deployed 9 times, from Operation Restore Hope in Somalia, to Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. During that lifetime of service, he was rattled by frequent small explosions and, Michael guesses, at least a dozen very severe blasts.
MICHAEL RODRIQUEZ: They were significant enough to where I had my bell rung. I could feel it through my whole body. Felt numb, some memory issues. Dizziness, definitely. Vomiting. Anger issues. I was drinking a lot. I was trying to hide it. I was very moody.
SAM MCLEAN: Yeah. We're really living in the dark ages of post-traumatic stress diagnosis. Dr. Sam McLean is a doctor of emergency medicine and anesthesiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
We hope to advance diagnose of post-traumatic stress by assessing what's going on in the brain, not simply a symptom checklist. Getting at the actual biology that's underlying those symptoms.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Researchers at the University of North Carolina are decoding blood samples taken from recent trauma victims at civilian emergency rooms. They're sequencing the genetic material, RNA, DNA, and other types of molecules to identify biological markers for PTSD.
SAM MCLEAN: The blood is such a valuable tool to use to better understand what's going on with post-traumatic stress. Because after a traumatic event, the brain communicates with the body via the blood.
TANJA JOVANOVIC: Close your eyes.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Dr. Tanja Jovanovic at Emory University in Atlanta is experimenting with the startle test based on evidence that people with PTSD are easily startled, even when there is no threat.
This volunteer is shown two symbols. A triangle means no threat, but a square means a threat is coming.
So then when they see the blue square on the screen, they know I'm about to get hit with a strong force of air?
TANJA JOVANOVIC: Exactly.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: When they see the triangle, they know nothing's going to happen.
TANJA JOVANOVIC: Right. What we see in someone who has PTSD is really big blinks to both the danger and the safety signal. The physiological part of their brain can't tell the difference between danger and safety.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: To find out how PTSD physically changes the brain, researchers at the Veterans Affairs Health Facility, just outside of Boston, are using MRIs to look at brain structure and volume as well as connectivity, to see how different areas of the brain talk to each other.
SAM MCLEAN: The goal is get to the point where there is a certain accurate molecular diagnosis that we can make. I'm hopeful that that's going to happen within our lifetimes. SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Eventually, Michael's commanders forced him to get help.
MICHAEL RODRIQUEZ: And they're like, and you have severe post-traumatic stress. I got upset. SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Why did PTS upset you?
MICHAEL RODRIQUEZ: Bought into the stigma. But if there was a tangible test, I think it would make it easier on the patients because it will validate it. If someone has leukemia, no one ever says, you don't have leukemia. So if there was some type of biomarker, then yeah, I think it would definitely help.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: I'm Soledad O'Brien in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
MICHAEL RODRIQUEZ: It's so physical. It requires a lot of force and heat and intensity. I'm facing and processing a lot of the stuff that I remember. The pain goes away. I'm forging myself.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: For four years, Michael misled doctors about his PTSD, fearing he would lose his job. There is no concrete diagnostic test that would have forced him to get treatment.
In 21 years of service in the army, Michael was deployed 9 times, from Operation Restore Hope in Somalia, to Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. During that lifetime of service, he was rattled by frequent small explosions and, Michael guesses, at least a dozen very severe blasts.
MICHAEL RODRIQUEZ: They were significant enough to where I had my bell rung. I could feel it through my whole body. Felt numb, some memory issues. Dizziness, definitely. Vomiting. Anger issues. I was drinking a lot. I was trying to hide it. I was very moody.
SAM MCLEAN: Yeah. We're really living in the dark ages of post-traumatic stress diagnosis. Dr. Sam McLean is a doctor of emergency medicine and anesthesiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
We hope to advance diagnose of post-traumatic stress by assessing what's going on in the brain, not simply a symptom checklist. Getting at the actual biology that's underlying those symptoms.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Researchers at the University of North Carolina are decoding blood samples taken from recent trauma victims at civilian emergency rooms. They're sequencing the genetic material, RNA, DNA, and other types of molecules to identify biological markers for PTSD.
SAM MCLEAN: The blood is such a valuable tool to use to better understand what's going on with post-traumatic stress. Because after a traumatic event, the brain communicates with the body via the blood.
TANJA JOVANOVIC: Close your eyes.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Dr. Tanja Jovanovic at Emory University in Atlanta is experimenting with the startle test based on evidence that people with PTSD are easily startled, even when there is no threat.
This volunteer is shown two symbols. A triangle means no threat, but a square means a threat is coming.
So then when they see the blue square on the screen, they know I'm about to get hit with a strong force of air?
TANJA JOVANOVIC: Exactly.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: When they see the triangle, they know nothing's going to happen.
TANJA JOVANOVIC: Right. What we see in someone who has PTSD is really big blinks to both the danger and the safety signal. The physiological part of their brain can't tell the difference between danger and safety.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: To find out how PTSD physically changes the brain, researchers at the Veterans Affairs Health Facility, just outside of Boston, are using MRIs to look at brain structure and volume as well as connectivity, to see how different areas of the brain talk to each other.
SAM MCLEAN: The goal is get to the point where there is a certain accurate molecular diagnosis that we can make. I'm hopeful that that's going to happen within our lifetimes. SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Eventually, Michael's commanders forced him to get help.
MICHAEL RODRIQUEZ: And they're like, and you have severe post-traumatic stress. I got upset. SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: Why did PTS upset you?
MICHAEL RODRIQUEZ: Bought into the stigma. But if there was a tangible test, I think it would make it easier on the patients because it will validate it. If someone has leukemia, no one ever says, you don't have leukemia. So if there was some type of biomarker, then yeah, I think it would definitely help.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN: I'm Soledad O'Brien in Fayetteville, North Carolina.