Study Says Women With PTSD Are At An Increased Risk For Lupus
Lupus is a chronic inflammatory disease that occurs when your body’s immune system attacks your own tissues and organs. It is a potentially fatal autoimmune disease that causes inflammation of many different body systems — including your joints, skin, kidneys, blood cells, brain, heart and lungs. Furthermore, it can be difficult to diagnose because its signs and symptoms often mimic those of other ailments.
Some people are born with a tendency toward developing lupus, which may be triggered by infections, certain drugs or even sunlight. Now, investigators from the Harvard University Medical School have published data describing a strong association between trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in civilian women with an increased risk of developing the autoimmune disorder systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
Compared with women with no reported history of trauma, those with probable PTSD- who have at least four typical symptoms- have an almost threefold higher risk of lupus (HR 2.94, 95% CI 1.19-7.26, P<0.05), according to Andrea Roberts, PhD, and colleagues from Harvard University in Boston.
In addition, a history of any trauma exposure, regardless of PTSD-specific symptoms, was associated with a significantly higher risk of incident lupus
(HR 2.83, 95% CI 1.29-6.21, P<0.01), the researchers reported.Researchers studied 54,763 civilian women enrolled in a larger health study. They used questionnaires to determine exposure to trauma, including serious car accidents and sexual assault, and examined medical records to find diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder. Over the 24 years of the study, they found 73 cases of lupus.
Compared to women without trauma, women with PTSD were almost three times as likely to have lupus. Exposure to trauma, even without having symptoms of PTSD, more than doubled the risk of developing the disease.
“We were surprised that exposure to trauma was so strongly associated with risk of lupus—trauma was a stronger predictor of developing lupus than smoking,” explained lead study investigator Andrea Roberts, Ph.D., a research associate in the department of social and behavioral sciences at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “Our results add to considerable scientific evidence that our mental health substantially affects our physical health, making access to mental health care even more urgent.”
“Our study contributes to growing evidence that psychosocial trauma and associated stress responses lead to autoimmune disease. Identification of the biological pathways by which psychosocial trauma may increase risk for autoimmune disease is crucial and may provide greater insight into disease etiology, as well as strategies for prevention,” the researchers concluded.
