There is growing evidence that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may be associated with more rapid cellular aging as measured by telomere erosion, a recent study found. Researchers evaluated data from a sub-study of the Nurses’ Health Study II (n=116). PTSD and sub-clinical PTSD were assessed in trauma-exposed women. They used linear regression models to assess associations and examine whether a range of key health behaviors and medical conditions previously associated with telomere length (TL) might explain a PTSD-TL association. They further examined whether type of trauma exposure was associated with TL and whether trauma type might explain a PTSD-TL association. Researchers found:

• Relative to not having PTSD, women with a PTSD diagnosis had shorter log-transformed TL.
• Adjustment for health behaviors and medical conditions did not attenuate this association.
• Trauma type was not associated with TL and did not account for the association of PTSD with TL.