Current PTSD and Autoimmune Disease Research

A new study on military personnel with diagnosed PTSD, showing a 58% increase in common autoimmune conditions compared to controls, after five years. This is the latest in a series of studies in recent years revealing what appears to be a correlative if not causal relationship between trauma and autoimmunity. One of my teachers, Joseph Antell, taught me some 20 years ago that a significant life trauma can affect a person at a deep level and cause a degenerative cycle of breakdown that leads to autoimmunity. 

I’ve certainly seen that in practice over the last 30 years. For example, one patient who was a flight attendant developed MS (multiple sclerosis) after the second of two incidents where the plane hit sudden turbulence and she was physically thrown about the cabin. Another patient got totally stressed out planning her wedding, and developed MS symptoms immediately after the honeymoon. See video for more. 

Read the full study from BMC Psychiatry here.

There’s so much to learn and know about autoimmune disease, and so much that we can do to help prevent and reverse the autoimmune process.