This is a picture of a soldier in the battlefield. Stress is obviously taking hold of him.
Picture found with article (Link Above)
Hamzelou, Jessica. "Trauma leaves its mark on immune system genes ." New Scientist Health. Reed Business Information Ltd., 06 May 2010. Web. 11 May 2010.
- New research has revealed that stress can leave chemical marks on DNA
- Could explain post-traumatic stress disorder(PTSD)
- In all PTSD patients examined, a certain gene was altered, which weakens brain cell and immune system growth
- Gene changed called methylation
- PTSD patients also had large amount of antibodies to cytomegalovirus (CMV), a herpes virus.
Reflection
This discovery explains many things about stress, and it can help treat post-traumatic stress disorder with more success. A genetic imprint on DNA could definitely harm the person or people who are stressed and it could turn out to be worse than first thought to be. Although PTSD normally affects soldiers and others exposed to extreme stress, the sad thing is, is that anyone can suffer from stress and it could prove dangerous if too much stress is invoked on the person. If scientists can reverse the method of the imprinting or find a way to prevent such a thing from happening, it could definitely reduce the percentage of people who suffer from excess stress. Also, reducing the number of soldiers who suffer from stress could increase the number of troops able to fight, because stress sometimes affects the performance of someone. I think that another discovery in this field will definitely help reduce stress. This discovery has helped me believe that DNA truly is as important as our physical features, simply because we depend on out DNA to live.
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