{"id":32090,"date":"2016-04-21T12:07:28","date_gmt":"2016-04-21T16:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/busm\/?p=32090"},"modified":"2016-04-21T12:07:28","modified_gmt":"2016-04-21T16:07:28","slug":"aging-too-fast-too-young-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/2016\/04\/21\/aging-too-fast-too-young-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Aging Too Fast, Too Young"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two studies of veterans link PTSD to accelerated aging<\/h4>\n
\"Mark
Mark Miller (left) and Erika Wolf, authors of two studies that show premature aging in veterans with PTSD. Photo by Jackie Ricciardi<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We\u2019ve all heard of people aging overnight after a traumatic event. Scientists actually have a word for this phenomenon: Marie Antoinette syndrome, named for the French queen. When she was captured after fleeing Paris and sentenced to death by guillotine, observers claimed her hair turned white from shock.<\/p>\n

While accounts of the queen\u2019s hair may just be legend, scientists have long suspected that chronic psychological stress\u2014triggered by events like war, abuse, or imprisonment\u2014may accelerate aging, leading to early onset of age-related disease or even premature death. Now, two studies from School of Medicine researchers, jointly funded by the US Department of Veterans Affairs<\/a> (VA) and the National Institute of Mental Health<\/a>, report significant links between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in veterans and accelerated aging. Many vets with PTSD are aging too fast, at a surprisingly young age.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re seeing evidence, on multiple levels, of accelerated aging among very young veterans\u2014people in their early 30s,\u201d says Erika Wolf<\/a>, a MED assistant professor of psychiatry and a clinical research psychologist at the VA\u2019s National Center for PTSD<\/a>, who is lead author on the two studies. \u201cThese could snowball into major health problems down the road.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe idea that traumatic events can have a physical effect on people has been around for a long time,\u201d says Mark Miller<\/a>, a MED associate professor of psychiatry and the studies\u2019 senior author. \u201cObservations suggest that traumatic stress starts a cascade of biological consequences that can produce visible signs of aging. More recent research shows how this is happening on a cellular level, and for the first time we have the methods to actually see it in a person\u2019s DNA.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first study, published online in the journal Psychoneuroendocrinology<\/em><\/a>, used new tools for examining DNA for signs of aging and comparing it to a person\u2019s actual age. The tools, developed in 2013 by scientists at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University of California, San Diego, <\/span>look at specific areas of a person\u2019s genome and note how they are methylated\u2014tagged with a tiny molecule of one carbon and three hydrogen atoms, known as a methyl group. Methylation is one of the primary ways that the body switches genes on and off, and certain patterns of DNA methylation correlate to a person\u2019s chronological age.<\/p>\n

For the Psychoneuroendocrinolog<\/em>y study, Wolf, who is also funded by a\u00a0VA Clinical Science Research & Development Career Development Award<\/a>, examined data from 281 veterans, studied at the VA\u2019s Translational Center for TBI and Stress Disorders<\/a> (TRACTS) database. TRACTS has collected health information\u2014including brain scans, blood tests, and the results of comprehensive psychological exams\u2014from 450 veterans who have been exposed to trauma. She found small but significant evidence that veterans with PTSD had accelerated aging of their DNA.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we age, what we see in the DNA is a lot of flip-flopping\u2014regions that are methylated become unmethylated, and vice versa,\u201d says Wolf. This pattern appears across genes involved with cell death, cardiac function, neurogeneration, and other cellular processes. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of variability, but it makes sense that they are involved with aging.\u201d<\/p>\n

The second study, published online in the journal Biological Psychiatry<\/em><\/a>, examined broader, age-related health consequences of PTSD. Specifically, Wolf looked at metabolic syndrome\u2014a constellation of symptoms including obesity, high blood pressure, abnormal blood lipids, and high blood sugar that can contribute to type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease, and even neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer\u2019s. Metabolic syndrome is elevated among veterans, says Wolf, with an estimated 25 percent affected. That number may be as high as 40 percent among people with PTSD.<\/p>\n

Wolf wondered exactly how PTSD correlated to metabolic syndrome, and whether the two together led to reduced cortical thickness, a shrinking of specific brain areas responsible for things like emotional regulation and memory. Again using data from TRACTS, Wolf examined health information from 346 military veterans who had deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. She found that PTSD was directly associated with metabolic syndrome, and that metabolic syndrome was strongly associated with reduced cortical thickness.<\/p>\n

Wolf hopes to continue the research looking at longitudinal data, so she can see how this accelerated aging proceeds over a decade or more. She also wants to expand the research to include Vietnam veterans, who could provide an even longer-term view.<\/p>\n

The findings are significant, she says, because they highlight a problem\u2014metabolic syndrome\u2014that is not usually considered in treating PTSD and is \u201cripe for intervention.\u201d Furthermore, says Miller, they suggest that clinicians may need to expand their repertoire of treatments for PTSD to target sleep, diet, and exercise.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of research is looking at the causes and risk factors of PTSD,\u201d says Miller. \u201cOur research is looking at the other side of the PTSD puzzle: what are the consequences for the body?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTraditionally, treatment for PTSD involves psychotherapy that focuses on the memory of traumatic events,\u201d he adds. \u201cThat\u2019s an undeniably relevant and important part of treatment. But these studies are suggesting that the clinical picture of PTSD is much bigger than a problem with somebody\u2019s memory. The profound biological changes that accompany it affect not just the mind and memory, but the whole body.\u201d<\/p>\n

A version of this BU Today<\/em> article was originally published in BU Research<\/a>. It was written by Barbara Moran<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Erika Wolf, PhD and Mark Miller, PhD author two studies of veterans that link PTSD to accelerated aging.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":903,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[91,90],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32090"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/903"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32090"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32092,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32090\/revisions\/32092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/camed\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}