To stop the post-trauma while it is in the enemy

A new study conducted in a unique animal model, and developed by Prof. Hagit Cohen from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in collaboration with Prof. Yossi Zahar from Tel Aviv University, found that high-dose cortisol hormone treatment can prevent or reduce the risk of getting post-traumatic syndrome

About 20% of people who are exposed to a severe traumatic event (car accident, work accident, terrorist attack or war) will not be able to continue their lives as usual. Those people continue to be busy with repeated thoughts about the event and avoid being exposed to stimuli that will remind them of the event - defined as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, or in its full name, post-traumatic stress disorder. This disorder causes considerable difficulties in the patient's functioning in everyday life and in extreme cases even complete dysfunction.

Cortisol is a stress hormone. During exposure to a traumatic event, hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol are secreted in our body that allow us to respond quickly to a threat physiologically (by increasing heart rate, dilating pupils, etc.). In this study it was found that these hormones also affect the brain and help reduce the intensity of anxiety reactions.

In a series of experiments carried out in the unique model for post-traumatic syndrome, it was found that treatment with a high dose of the hormone corticosterone (cortisol in rodents) given immediately after exposure to the traumatic event, reduced the development of post-traumatic anxiety reactions, probably by preventing the fixation of the traumatic memory. Conversely, a low dose of the corticosterone hormone increased the anxiety response and increased the incidence of post-traumatic morbidity and the memory of the traumatic event.

The researchers, who published their findings in the new issue of the journal Biological Psychiatry, believe that the level of the hormone secreted at the time of exposure to the traumatic event is one of the factors that influence the mental response to the event. Normal secretion is related to resistance and adaptation to the event, while lack of secretion or little secretion increases the likelihood of developing post-traumatic symptoms. The researchers believe that high-dose corticosterone "weakened" the memory of the traumatic event by preventing the crystallization of the traumatic memory, thereby preventing its transformation into a long-term memory that is a resistant memory. In other words, a high dose of the stress hormone moderated the threatening emotional component of the traumatic memory and thus prevented the traumatic reactions.

The research team believes that treatment with a high dose of the stress hormone cortisol can in the future be used as a preventive treatment, provided that it is given immediately after exposure to trauma. Based on these results, research in this direction in humans is in the process of initial submission at Sheba Hospital.

The team of researchers includes Prof. Hagit Cohen, Dr. Mike Mater, Prof. Ze'ev Kaplan - Center for Mental Health, Psychiatry Division at Ben-Gurion University. Prof. Danny Buskila - Soroka University Medical Center - Internal Medicine Division, Ben-Gurion University. Prof. Yossi Zahar - Tel Hashomer Hospital, Tel Aviv University.