Researchers from Northwestern University have discovered two brain proteins that remain activated long after they should have stopped and believe the continued activation is what causes PTSD.
The brain proteins stopped their excess activation when the research drugs MPEP and MTEP were injected into the hippocampus within five hours of the traumatic event.
The research was conducted on mice and published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.
Great, they found a drug that helps stop a traumatic experience from becoming PTSD.
Woohoo, let's jump for joy! Oh, wait a minute, it has to be injected into my brain within five hours of the traumatic event for it to work.
Let's see, I'm a solider in Iraq or Afghanistan and I've just been ambushed, blown up by an IED, and some of my buddies are dead.
I can't just call, "time out", I think I might get PTSD from this and I need an injection straight into my brain.
What's that, the nearest hospital is a three-hour helicopter ride away, "sorry son, we can't get you medevac'd in time".
Now let's look at a closer to home example.
I'm a female who has just been assaulted and raped.
How long is it going to take for me to go through calling the police and be examined in the hospital and will it be standard procedure for the hospital to inject one of these drugs into my brain? If 30% of the population will develop PTSD from a traumatic event, how do we know who are the 30%? Do we give the drug to everyone, "just in case"? Link to the article.
http://www.
dailymail.
co.
uk/health/article-1336421/Scientists-develop-drug-stop-PTSD-starts.
html