Wounded Warrior Project: Blood Tests to Treat PTSD

WASHINGTON, Feb. 21, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- It is estimated 500,000 of this generation of wounded veterans live with the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Another 320,000 suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI). There are few proven methods to diagnose and treat the signature wounds of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Not every veteran living with these ailments responds the same to specific treatment.

To help, Wounded Warrior Project^® (WWP) is working with Cohen Veterans Bioscience (CVB) to identify and study biomarkers that could improve treatment options. A biomarker is a measurable substance indicative of a disease or infection. For veterans, a specific biomarker found in a blood sample can confirm a PTSD diagnosis and the potential to respond to treatment.

By studying these substances, researchers hope to better target PTSD treatment in veterans and other trauma survivors.

"We would love to cure PTSD and TBI one day," said Mike Richardson, WWP vice president of mental health and independence services. "Until then, we will continue to target treatment and do what is best for the veterans we serve."

As part of this support Wounded Warrior Project's Warrior Care Network^® will be actively involved in the research into biomarkers ? testing wounded veterans and helping identify the most effective treatment options. Warrior Care Network (woundedwarriorproject.org/programs/warrior-care-network) is an innovative partnership with four top facilities focused on providing world-class mental health care to wounded veterans. While the treatment shows clinically proven results, more can still be done.

"We value Wounded Warrior Project's collaboration and support to help advance a first generation of PTSD & TBI diagnostics," said Magali Haas, MD, PhD, CVB's CEO & President.  "We need an all-hands approach to tackle this important scientific & clinical challenge."

This collaboration can advance a roadmap for discovery, replication, and qualification of biomarkers ? an effort that can create solutions in years, not decades.

About Wounded Warrior Project
Wounded Warrior Project^® (WWP) connects, serves, and empowers wounded warriors. Read more at http://newsroom.woundedwarriorproject.org/about-us.

About Cohen Veterans Bioscience 
Cohen Veterans Bioscience is a national, nonpartisan research organization dedicated to fast-tracking the development of diagnostic tests and personalized therapeutics for the millions of veterans and civilians who suffer the devastating effects of trauma-related and other brain disorders. To support & learn more about our research efforts, visit www.cohenveteransbioscience.org.

SOURCE Wounded Warrior Project