Stress- and PTSD-associated obesity and metabolic dysfunction: a growing problem requiring further research and novel treatments (original) (raw)

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a growing public health concern. More recently, evidence has indicated that PTSD leads to obesity and associated metabolic dysfunction. Possible mechanisms of this link are through dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and related moderation of appetite hormones and neural activity, leading to changes in consumptive behaviors. Although research has been examining associations between PTSD and obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic syndrome, future research should delineate potential mechanisms for these associations and develop targeted treatments to reduce these metabolic outcomes. Obesity and its associated metabolic problems are increasing in prevalence and pose a tremendous threat to human health nationally and worldwide [1]. Approximately a third of the US population is obese, another third overweight, and a quarter of the population have metabolic syndrome [2]. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has emerged as predictor of obesity and metabolic dysfunction in more recent years. Both obesity and PTSD are growing concerns within both the general and veteran populations. The lifetime prevalence rates of PTSD are high and the implications of the associations between PTSD and obesity have a wide reach. For instance, PTSD is estimated to have lifetime prevalence rates of up to 30% in US Vietnam War veterans, with current prevalence rates of around 15% [3]. Other studies find similar rates (11.2-17.1%) amongst more recent US veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, making PTSD an ever-present concern for veterans [4]. Amongst the general population, prevalence rates of PTSD have been found to be about 7.8%, which represents a decent impact on the populace at large [5]. Slightly over a third (35%) of both the veteran