Predicting Responses to PTSD Treatment With Iris and Cardiovascular Tests
Status:
Recruiting
Trial end date:
2023-06-05
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects many individuals who experience a traumatic
event. There are a variety of treatment options for PTSD, including psychotherapy (talk
therapy) options, as well as medications, such as the drug prazosin. Each of the treatment
options available is effective at significantly reducing the symptoms of PTSD in some, but
not all, individuals with PTSD. However, investigators are not yet able to predict in advance
who is likely to respond to which of the available treatments. Neither are the investigators
able to explain what changes in the brain after exposure to a traumatic stressors, and why it
results in persistent symptoms of PTSD for some people, but not for others.
In this study, the investigators are testing two things: First, is testing whether two
simple, easy tests of how an individual's blood pressure changes with standing and how an
individual's eye reacts to a pulse of light may be able to predict whether that person is
likely to respond to the medication prazosin for PTSD. Second, is testing whether those who
have been exposed to a traumatic stress show differences in how their body regulates the
response to the stress-signal noradrenaline.