Trauma can make people age faster, new study shows

A STRESSFUL experience really can take years off you life.

Scientists have found that people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are actually ageing faster.

Researchers at the University of California looked at 64 studies which linked early death and illness to traumatic experiences.

Six studies looked at the length of telomeres – the protective caps at the end of chromosomes which stop DNA from becoming damaged.

Telomeres shorten with every cell replication and so are considered a strong measure of the ageing process in cells.

They found that people who had suffered stress had shorter telomeres than would be expected given their age.

Other indicators of poor health and premature ageing, such as increased inflammation, were also present.

People who had suffered post-traumatic stress disorder were also more likely to suffer from age-related diseases such as heart disease, type two diabetes, ulcers and dementia, indicating that they were ageing more quickly. They were also more likely to die earlier.

PTSD can be brought on by a number of events, including serious road accidents, sexual assaults, long-term abuse, military combat or natural disasters. In Britain about 3% of men and 2% of women have been diagnosed with the condition.

It has already been found to heighten the risk of chronic depression, anger, insomnia, eating disorders and substance abuse, but this is the first study to show a link to premature ageing. The researchers say that it shows PTSD should be classified as a biological and not just a mental illness.

“This is the first study of its type to link PTSD, a psychological disorder with no established genetic basis, which is caused by external, traumatic stress, with longterm, systemic effects on a basic biological process such as ageing,” said Dr Dilip Jeste, professor of psychiatry and neurosciences at the University of California. Researchers had previously noted a potential association between psychiatric conditions, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and acceleration of the ageing process.

“These findings do not speak to whether accelerated aging is specific to PTSD, but they do argue the need to re-conceptualise PTSD as something more than a mental illness,” said Dr James Lohr, professor of psychiatry at the University of California.

“Our findings warrant a deeper look at this phenomenon and a more integrated medical-psychiatric approach to their care.”

The research was published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

‘Our findings warrant a more integrated medical-psychiatric approach