A new study has found that saliva samples can be used to accurately and rapidly diagnose individuals suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. PTSD is a mental health condition that is triggered by an individual witnessing or experiencing a terrifying event.
The study was carried out by scientists from the Tel Aviv University and the University of Haifa in Israel. For their research, the scientists obtained samples of saliva from some 200 Israeli soldiers and studied their medical, social and psychological conditions.
The research, which was led by Professor Illana Gozes of the Sackler Faculty of Medicine, found that the veteran soldiers who were still suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after experiencing combat reactions associated with stress from the 1982 Lebanon war demonstrated a common microbial picture in their saliva. The study’s participants were tested for various psychological aspects, which included guilt, appetite disorders, sleep, spousal and social support, suicidal ideation, satisfaction with life and hostility as well as welfare, psychopathology, demographics, education and health issues.
The researchers compared the microbial distribution results of every participant to the responses given for the welfare questions and their psychological results, discovering that individuals with high psychopathological indications and post-traumatic stress disorder displayed the same bacteria picture in their saliva.
In the report, Gozes stated that this was the first study to illustrate a microbial signature in the saliva of veterans suffering from post-trauma, noting that almost one-third of their participants had never received a PTSD diagnosis. The scientists added that their findings could assist physicians to reach objective and accurate diagnoses of individuals suffering from PTSD in the future and also lay the foundation for microbiotic-related drugs to mitigate the condition’s symptoms.
Others involved include Dr. Shlomo Sragovich, Professor Noam Shomron and Guy Shapira, a PhD student, all from the Sagol School of Neuroscience and the Sackler Faculty of Medicine at the Tel Aviv University; Professor Abraham Sagi-Schwartz and Ella Levert-Levitt, a PhD student, both from the Center for the Study of Child Development and the School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Haifa; and Professor Zahava Solomon from Gershon Gordon Faculty of Social Sciences at Tel Aviv University.
This research was also backed by the Department of Health and Well-Being, under the Israel Defense Forces Medical Corps. Microbiology experts from Berlin’s Charité University Medicine also collaborated with other researchers on the study. The study findings were reported in “Nature’s Molecular Psychiatry” magazine.
Research teams at entities such as Cybin Inc. (NYSE American: CYBN) (NEO: CYBN) are also looking into using psychedelic compounds to alter the brain’s circuitry so that the thinking patterns responsible for psychiatric illnesses such as PTSD are changed to yield permanent improvements in mental health.
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to Cybin Inc. (NEO: CYBN) (NYSE American: CYBN) are available in the company’s newsroom at https://ibn.fm/CYBN
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