Scientists Hope To Create A ‘Stress Vaccine’ To Help With Anxiety And PTSD
Everyone with PTSD knows how the condition can affect you in so many negative ways. It can bring about anxiety and panic attacks and yet scientists are still in a quandary how to solve the problem. Is it only a psychological disorder, or is it a dysfunctional part of physiology or perhaps a combination of both. How does a traumatic incident become a trigger for anxiety the rest of our lives and how do we get rid of it. Now scientists have come up with some new research that suggests that we could immunize ourselves against PTSD and anxiety and the key to that has been lying beneath our noses.
1A new take on the hygiene hypothesis of 30 years ago
The hygiene hypothesis may have been proposed a long time ago, 30 years to be precise, but now scientists have developed new research that says otherwise. The theories of yesteryear have been refined to a point that has them believing that it is exposure to a particular organism present in dirt that could cure the disorder
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2Dirt can actually increase immunity
Yes, it is dirt that is being touted as a cure for PTSD, imagine that. All you need to do is get your fingers dirty and perhaps your anxiety may reduce. Let’s see how that can actually happen. Scientists say that the microorganism found in dirt can benefit humans.
The research by Professor Christopher Lowry of integrative physiology at University of Colorado-Boulder, has been studying a link between humans exposure to soil and mental health.
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3Bacteria in dirt can decrease stress and inflammation
Lowry is optimistic that he is on the right path to discovering what he likes to call the stress vaccine. What Lowry attempts to explain is that there is a certain bacteria found in soil called Mycobacterium Vaccae and it has been proven to decrease stress induced inflammation in the body. His research was published lately in the journal Psychopharmacology. His research team also managed to isolate the fatty acid that is contained within the bacteria.
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4What the study found
The research team has found that the fatty acid in the bacteria was bound to a receptor that blocks pathways thus resulting in inflammation. There are some studies that have shown how this could increase conditions triggered by stress like post traumatic stress disorder.
“We think there is a special sauce driving the protective effects in this bacterium, and this fat is one of the main ingredients in that special sauce,” he said of his research.
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