Is there a link between PTSD and our body’s immune response?
Well, current research published in the Journal of Brain, Behavior, and Immunity has stretched beyond focusing on what happens to the body’s nervous and endocrine systems after trauma. . .
. . . and researchers have discovered a connection between trauma and the body’s immune system. More specifically, researchers have become curious about how trauma affects inflammation – as well as whether inflammation influences the development of PTSD.
Mark Miller, PhD and his team from the Boston University School of Medicine took this one step further. They wanted to look at how epigenetics might influence the link between PTSD and inflammation.
In a study from January 2018, Dr. Miller and his team were able to pinpoint how traumatic stress influences one important gene associated with inflammation, the AIM2 gene.
You see, previous research had identified the protein CRP, C-reactive protein, as a major player in our response to inflammation. CRP can act like an internal firefighter – it puts out the blaze of inflammation in the central and peripheral nervous system.
And the gene most responsible for producing CRP is AIM2.
Traumatic stress influences one important gene associated with inflammation. Click To TweetNow when the immune system is at rest and there is no inflammation, a specific part of AIM2 is methylated – that means the genes are tightly bound together and are turned “off.” And when AIM2 is off, CRP is not being made because there are no fires to put out in the body.
So what can cause AIM2 to switch “on”?
Well, stress can be a big factor – and as we know, stress can contribute to inflammation.
But when AIM2 switches on, it also raises CRP levels in the blood to reduce inflammation.
So these researchers wanted to find out two things. First, did traumatic stress contribute to turning this gene “on?” And second (and perhaps more importantly), if AIM2 didn’t turn on and CRP levels remained low – would that influence the development of PTSD?
In this study, Miller and the team took blood tests of 288 post-9/11 US military veterans who had experienced traumatic stress during deployment in Iraq and/or Afghanistan.
After analyzing their blood samples for CRP levels and doing a clinical assessment of the veterans, the researchers’ findings were two-fold.
They concluded that after traumatic stress, CRP levels are elevated. This means that trauma has an epigenetic influence that turns AIM2 “on.” So trauma can lead to inflammation in the body. But CRP helps to reduce that inflammation.
Now here’s the other implication of the researchers’ findings – people who have experienced trauma but have low CRP levels (either due to a failure in epigenetic control of AIM2 or some other genetic mutation) might be at a higher risk for developing PTSD.
While it’s still too early for these findings to have any immediate clinical application, researchers are hopeful that this study is a step forward in identifying how PTSD impacts gene expression and the body.
Of course, we do need to keep in mind some limitations of this study. The research could have been strengthened by using a control group.
Given that you could not use a randomized design in this study, it would be nice to see a future effort conducted with a prospective design.
If you’d like to read this study for yourself, you can find it in the Journal of Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, volume 67, pp. 194-202.
For the latest insights from Bessel van der Kolk, MD; Pat Ogden, PhD; Stephen Porges, PhD; and Ruth Lanius, MD, PhD, please join us for this week’s free broadcast in the Treating Trauma Master Series.
It’s free to watch at the time of broadcast; you just have to sign up.
Now I’d like to hear from you. What have you found helpful in working with clients who struggle with PTSD?
Please leave a comment below.
I work with Australian Aboriginal children and they are most susceptible to inflammation. I often wondered whether they have a compromised immune system connected with their high incidence of trauma experienced as well as the intergenerational aspect
This research is particularly important in that respect
I am a therapist, however having sort treatment for myself I have had several independent evaluations telling me I have PTSD from my childhood experiences.
I have had several autoimmune diseases in my life starting in my twenties culminating in breast cancer twice aged 40 and now 12 years later.
I had come to the conclusion that the pathophys was linked to immune and endocrine issues, but did not know the link regarding PTSD and inflammation.
This is very useful information for me and many others suffering from chronic illness.
Thank you for the article tip on immunity, inflammation and PTS !
As a teacher, with over forty years experience at the high school, college, university, and graduate school levels, I have uncovered a procedure that allows one to alter negative reactions to bad memories.
This procedure works for veterans to relieve their trauma symptoms, such as hypervigilance, anxiety, grief, distress, nightmares, sleeplessness, reactions to loud noises, and similar reactions.
Veterans who have used this procedure to reduce their symptoms of post traumatic stress, comment that “It’s easy, and it works 100% of the time.”
This procedure is fast, easy, efficient, effective, and makes life more fun. It gives warriors the ability to eliminate symptoms of trauma and other negatives, thus improving their overall quality of life.
So Eric, are you begging to be asked…or offering insight?
Eric, I am compelled to ask you what it is that you do that helps those suffering from PTSD reduce their symptoms? Please share, thank you.
Thank you for this article- it confirms my suspicions. My maternal grandfather experienced shell shock in WW1 and was no doubt re-traumatized during the bombings of WW2.
Two of my cousins have died of inflammatory auto-immune conditions, and I am having some similar health challenges.
I hope you might touch on healing inter-generational trauma.
Many thanks!
Thank you for this invaluable information and the Treating Trauma Masters Series …loving it ……I believe trauma and stress on the body has so many effects yet to be discovered by the medical scientific professions.
As the saying goes stress and trauma is the cause of so many diseases in the body if not all diseases …..
We need to remember that we are the sum total ( body, mind, emotions and spirit) of who we are and trauma and stress on any one of these levels can eventually manifest as an imbalance and disease in the physical body.
Working with traumatised clients I am often starting from a point far before they are able to begin “therapy’
Spending a great deal of time on relationship and developing interpersonal safety seems essential.
Then often I will find a pastime , eg crotchet, knitting, drawing, guitar, gardening etc and help them to learn and develop that skill.Sit with them and teach them and work with them. Many of these pastimes are meditative in and of themselves.
Working with them to develop the skill strengthens the sense of safety and interpersonal bond, then perhaps the work can begin!
Interesting read of your response..thankyou. ive just learnt of the vagus nerve..for releasing trauma. Yes executive function in myself is/has been very challenging through years of stress/trauma..im a keen learner of what is behind my ailments and searching for answers that the doctors/physc just arent reaching 🙂
I have heard that when dealing with the effects of trauma, the base of the cranium is activated, also known as the reptilian part of the brain responsible for survival. One must actively process the trauma through body processes such as rapid eye movement, allowing oneself to shake, and finally reconnecting with the front part of your brain responsible for executive functioning. It is also necessary to take time to write out what happened, so that you can integrate the experience with your reality, grow in confidence, and use your story telling abilities to be of service to suffering people.
Very interesting article and research. Surprising and useful!
What I have found usefull is using
“ titration.” It is essential and empowering for the client to know they do not have to let a negative energetic feeling control their life❤️
Very interesting. After trauma of losing a spouse and having 3 babies to raise alone I suddenly developed rheumatoid arthritis and found I have extremely high CRP and systemic inflammation. Would be cool to see if inhibiting gene expression or something could help reverse either the PTSD or the RA!
Hello Keh, a suggestion in regards to: “something help reverse either PTSD or RA.”
I believe we heal emotionally, physically and spiritually. The mind/body connection will influence the healing journey! Emotion/feelings can create illness. Releasing the intense feeling that has been recorded in our mind and body helps us move forward. Blessing on your journey!
Depending on the type of trauma you speak of. Sexual Assaults and Impact Traumas especially in a domestic situation are injuries. You sever. You do not heal nor mend. You adjust. Your body has a certain amount biochemical and physiological adjustments that it can take before its a fatality. Just like football players, a human in continuum trauma from all entities within its life, will die. Its a matter of when. Somatic Sexual rushes are very real. And when one has them with every trigger of taking their “human rights” away from them, it’s impossible to stop. science has yet to identify why and where in the body this starts in and why. I am extremely interested in ways to alleviate this very real violation in severely forced, traumatized women.
Yes could work. Hope so…
RA is also helped by changes in diet – ie eat less or none of the the foods with cause more inflammation. Dr Floyd (Ski) Chilton has several books on the subject, one being “Inflammation Nation”. He also addresses “food combinations” and I believe synthetic addititives.
Would like to thank you as well for adding to the research on trauma and the immune system, it has been an interest of mine across 50 years now, Have done much research in this area
Trust and safety first. Careful assessment of triggers. EMDR therapy. Trance states during EMDR helps innovative change. Parnel’s attachment protocol..who is there for you, protects, nurturs, is wise. Real or imagined e. g. imagine what a caring Mother would do. Use of dreams, postures and rhythms to tap the unconscious. Prescence..the ability to feel and ressonate with the patient’s underlying depth of emotion. Giving voice to the feelings and safety in being visible.The ability to pick up nonverbal cues. This is the power of the witness. Education about lifestyle and nutrition. ..adjunct meditation, dance, Tai Chi. Somatic arts..slow down, feel the body, connect with the pain , let it pass trough you..according to Vanderkolk, this increases the immune response. This of course needs to be titrated across time. Wrote about much of this in Dance of Psyche: Rhythm of Consciosness, copyright 2002. See christinacampbell.com. The work of the dance therapists is documented in this book.
Wow..all of what you write above is extremely interesting..I will look up the book. Thankyou.. all of the above mentioned therapies..I am yearning to achieve…K
I find this very interesting, looking forward to seeing this unfold.
As a retired Psychologist I do keep abreast with developments in the realm of trauma.
I have P.T.S.I. Following military service.
This trauma is not a disorder. It is an injury to the brain.
A.D.D. Et-al are disorders.
Keep up the excellent work.
Can you explain what “failure in epigenetic control of AIM 2” is.
Thank you so much for sharing these findings. I suffer with ADHD but also have significant past trauma and am reaching middle age. As I am less able as an advanced yogi due to accident(s!) I teach yoga to patients with life limiting illness and/or disabilities and I am very keen to share this with them. I also volunteer at London Ambulance and this will be a refreshing subject to submit to the chair at the monthly strategy meetings.. Thank you Ruth! 💖
As a yoga and mindfulness instructor working with people with traumas and stress, I am very interested in your work and research. Grateful for all the information you share
This is really fascinating!
Right now I am in the hospital working on myself as I slipped on Monday night getting out of the shower and broke my ankle in 3 places.
Trauma of course after the fall so inflammation and immune system too. I am scheduled for surgery on Monday after being put in a soft plaster cast on Columbus Day, to stabilize the ankle, so hopefully swelling will go down so I can have the surgery. So this course is helping me and I am able to utilize the tools. Thank you.
Thanks for the post!
Actually this was not really needed and in my case, unnecessarily calling for my attention.
I am not interested in all the biochemical processes and technicalities involved or the researcher protocols and their theories, as I am not a researcher in neuro-biology or whatever.
I am more interested in the result and would like to focus on their clinical translation into practical treatments.
Regarding the question of Trauma and inflammation, I have found that the webinar on the neurobiology of trauma the other day was enough and spot on. Many thanks again for that one!!
My response to information like this is so complexified. That is, I simultaneously feel validated, celebratory, sad and mystified. Validated and celebratory that what many of us have intuited and shared about our experiences with our own bodies and that of our clients has been proven to be true. Sad and mystified at how very long it can take for the science that refutes our embodied knowing and the dismissal or discounting with which it is met. My gratitude for this confirmation, though, is clear as water running over rocks. Which seems to be the path of healing and learning. Thank you.
Hello
My understanding that PTSD occurs for those who have had previous trauma perhaps in childhood, when they experience the recent trauma which brings on PTSD.
I am not clear how lower CRP levels will actually cause a person to experience the symptoms. Maybe the first traumas of , say, childhood, have lowered the CRP already so individuals are more vulnerable when a new trauma comes up?
Isn’t there also room in there for sensitivity of the person – how well they experience compassion for themselves and others? How well adjusted they are and how well they know themselves?
Interesting question Clare, and I suppose socio-economic factors cone into play too.. whereby the cause and effect of events lead to the marginalising and compartmentalising of an individual with symptomatic facets such as low self esteem? a really fascinating study I am intrigued and would welcome more dialogue! Namaste all! X
Hello. I have fibromyalgia and one of the theories about how this occurs is with the beginning of some ‘trauma’….which then is not healed…I wonder if this is a similar process being posited? Sounds like it! thanks.
It would be pleasant when there was research about the connection depression and inflammation in the brain or total body. I know several people who have this combination. Also the combination depression, inflammation and cardiovascular diseases are good for research. And what about depression, fibromyalgia and inflammation. And skin problems ?
Having noticed a direct correlation between emotional and physical stressors and subsequent inflammation myself I believe the above information to be correct. It adds to my theories of why infammation occurs post stress especially with a sedentary lifestyle
I have a young adult client suffering from DID and has recently been diagnosed with a crippling inflammatory disease. DID is rooted in developmental trauma the sufferer cannot understand or hold and from which they chronically dissociate.
DID is often mis-diagnosed as PTSD. A big difference between the two is that DID sufferers are plagued by chronic amnesia, eventually fragmenting themselves psychologically.
The contributing stressors of both conditions are similar. Therefore, I wonder if research will also be undertaken to confirm these findings for DID sufferers. Thank you for posting this research.
Most of my clients are competent and non-disordered people who experienced interpersonal trauma during childhood. I use the info provided to psycho-educate them and to compliment my university of Melbourne research “Lives Unseen: Unacknowledged Trauma of Non-Disordered, Competent Adult Children of Parents with a Severe Mental Illness” which most of my clients have read. Pat Ogden’s work and mindfulness has been extremely relevant and helpful. I guide my clients breathe more deeply than they usually do and that, along with the psycho-education on how their body may have impacted, is enormously helpful at it increases their awareness and supports them towards a healthier existence.
Would like to read this work. How do I access it?
I would also love to read and share this!
I Would also be interested in the lives and seeing and reading that how do I access it also
Suzette your input has helped me enormously .. and I would like to read your work “Lives Unseen”.. is it published so I can source it.. I am very interested to read as my son is very high functioning and “Neuro typical” but has seen a lot of things in his life because of things that affected myself .. (I have a diagnosis of adhd/asd).
Thank you and namaste!
Just finished “Lives Unseen” by Suzette Misrachi and found it really insightful. in it she calls much needed attention to the often overlooked lifespan implications of childhood trauma and lack of research and life-long supports due to the never-ending grief that results from childhood trauma caused parents. Apparently there is little understanding about the unique (and often overlooked) way grief manifests and impacts the lives of both children and adults, throughout their lifetimes, when childhood trauma and abuse is caused by parents.
Might suigested treatments and supports for childhood trauma lifespan symptoms, particularly unrelenting, debilitating grief be addressed in this Trauma Series?
Hi!
First of all, I have just joined and so far hugely enjoyed the first installment of the Treating Trauma series. It’s very well presented and especially the animations really bring the neurological details to life.
I have been studying and practicing the Comprehensive Resource Model (CRM) for the Treatment of Trauma for some years now. I find it immensely useful not only for a safe, supportive and effective method in sessions but also as a way of resourcing clients in, what are, effectively, mindfulness techniques.
As Lisa Schwarz presented her model at the Trauma summit in Belfast this summer, CRM would have been become known to a wider audience there.
I have used it both for one off traumatic experiences as well as for complex trauma based on attachment disruptions in childhood very effectively.
Best regards, Sylvia
I have Mutiple Sclerosis , but have had an MRI recently and been told it is a Benign Form . However in saying this , I have had Trauma of a Shocking Stress High Level for 25 years . In the last two years it has got worse. I am anxious , have panic attacks and many triggers . When the stress is High , my body from the inside is on Fire , I believe from what I just read it would be my nerves , I can’t sleep it wakes me , I am constantly itchy .It has to be the On going Trauma . What the trauma is I was Falsely Accused of a Terrible Crime , and have never been able to clear my name .the impact of the Stress on going has taken a toll on my body .I liken it to being in a conflict everyday . I thank you for your information that had been assisting . I have tried to get help here in Australia but have been denied Justice .
I am so sorry for your situation. I pray for you and believe you can recover. My son was victimized in the same way you were, and he is very traumatized as a result. Injustice is a form of rape.
If you speak French this videos helped me to understand and also to get better. https://www.cyrinne.com/store/Tj4t2bos.
Reading about trauma and inflammation makes me question a Crohns diagnosis that my daughter has received. Might the body’s symptoms, that present as Crohns, be inflammation triggered from a traumatic event. If so how might the treatment plan differ?
One of the very useful things I’ve found when working with clients with ACE’s and current day trauma issues, is working with the body sensations as experienced in the session – very much like Pat Ogden’s description in last night’s presentation. Would very much like to hear more examples from her…