{"id":845096,"date":"2025-05-01T21:12:24","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T02:12:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/surprising-ptsd-findings-why-western-assumptions-may-be-wrong\/"},"modified":"2025-05-01T21:12:24","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T02:12:24","slug":"surprising-ptsd-findings-why-western-assumptions-may-be-wrong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/surprising-ptsd-findings-why-western-assumptions-may-be-wrong\/","title":{"rendered":"Surprising PTSD Findings: Why Western Assumptions May Be Wrong"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"PTSD<\/a>
A new study by researchers from Arizona State University and the Naval Postgraduate School analyzed the relationship between PTSD and hormones in the non-industrialized Turkana society, revealing that Turkana warriors with PTSD had lower morning testosterone but no significant difference in cortisol levels. This challenges previous findings in Western populations and suggests cultural and environmental factors may influence physiological responses to trauma, emphasizing the need for broader research beyond industrialized societies.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ASU scientists are the first to study the relationship between hormones and PTSD<\/div>\n
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disorder that develops in some people who have experienced or witnessed a shocking, scary, or dangerous event.<\/div>\n

” data-gt-translate-attributes=”[{“attribute”:”data-cmtooltip”, “format”:”html”}]” tabindex=”0″ role=”link”>PTSD<\/span> in a non-industrialized society.<\/h3>\n

According to the World Health Organization, approximately 3.9% of the global population<\/a> has experienced post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at some point in their lives. In the United States, this prevalence is higher, reaching about 6%<\/a>.<\/p>\n

PTSD can develop after an individual experiences or witnesses a traumatic event, with symptoms lasting for months or even years. However, much remains unknown about the condition.<\/p>\n

Researchers from Arizona State University<\/a> and the Naval Postgraduate School, including anthropologists, social scientists, and veterans, are the first to study the connection between the hormones cortisol and testosterone and PTSD within a non-industrialized society.<\/p>\n

This new study sheds more light on the PTSD puzzle.<\/p>\n

Homing in on hormones<\/h4>\n

Previous studies about PTSD and hormones have focused only on people living in Western or European industrialized societies. They included people who suffered from different types of trauma like car crashes, assault and multiple deployments, according to Ben Trumble, a research scientist at the Institute of Human Origins and associate professor at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change.<\/p>\n

The studies showed the majority of people diagnosed with PTSD had very little change in their cortisol levels throughout the day. Instead, the results showed \u201cblunted\u201d levels of cortisol and not the normal rise and fall patterns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn healthy men, hormones like testosterone and cortisol follow a pattern throughout the day,\u201d Trumble said. \u201cHormone levels are the highest just after waking up, and then decline rapidly. Levels are low throughout the day, and rise again at night.\u201d<\/p>\n

The big question Trumble and colleagues wanted to answer was, would they see this same pattern in a non-industrialized population with people who suffered from the same type of trauma?<\/p>\n

\"Turkana<\/a>
Turkana research assistant Amuria Lotiira holds a saliva collection tube and explains the protocol to potential participants in an ASU study. In 2015, a team tested levels of cortisol and testosterone from saliva samples from Turkana pastoralist warriors in Kenya. A Turkana-area chief sits to the left of Lotiira. Credit: Matthew Zefferman<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cOur study is the first to examine associations between hormones (cortisol and testosterone) among the Turkana,\u201d Trumble said. \u201cTurkana pastoralists experience a high degree of combat exposure, and 28% of men have symptoms of PTSD<\/a>. Because nearly everyone gets exposed to combat, we can see if there are biological differences in hormones for those with PTSD and those without PTSD. So, in this case we can compare apples to apples and not apples to oranges.\u201d<\/p>\n

What the ASU scientists found was surprising.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe did not find any difference in cortisol for Turkana warriors with a provisional PTSD diagnosis versus those without PTSD,\u201d said Michael Baumgarten, an Institute of Human Origins-affiliated graduate student and Army Ranger veteran<\/a>. \u201cBoth groups of warriors had nearly identical cortisol patterns. Interestingly, Turkana men with PTSD had lower testosterone when they woke up compared to those without PTSD.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cA more applied takeaway is to look at the results of this study and either retain or increase the level of skepticism one has of narratives that claim to have a crystal-clear picture of how human physiology responds to the stresses of combat \u2014 especially if they are trying to sell you something,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Why the Turkana?<\/h4>\n

Being a livestock farmer, or pastoralist, in Kenya near South Sudan can be dangerous and deadly.<\/p>\n

The Turkana are mobile pastoralists and engage in cattle raiding, said Matthew Zefferman, an assistant professor at the Naval Postgraduate School and U.S. Air Force veteran.<\/p>\n

Zefferman spent half a year in the field with the Turkana during his postdoctoral fellowship at ASU.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Turkana in our study area, who raid other pastoralists, typically do so across the disputed border with South Sudan,\u201d he said. \u201cThey travel by foot, often over 60 miles and engage in small and large raids. They are also raided by members of other pastoral groups. These raids can result in firefights and the death of family members, and the loss of animals. About half of adult male deaths in the study area is due to raiding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Turkana warriors experience similar trauma from combat exposure during cattle raids. They also share similar cultural backgrounds and are the same gender. This differs from previous studies conducted where trauma and cultural background are different.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is interesting to see how the physiological response to trauma exposure can differ based on cultural environment,\u201d said Sarah Mathew, a research scientist at the Institute of Human Origins and associate professor at the School of Human Evolution and Social Change. \u201cIt suggests that we can\u2019t answer basic questions about human biology by only studying industrialized populations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mathew\u2019s relationship with the Turkana since 2007 led to this project and many others, providing valuable information about non-industrialized cooperation, cultural norms, and warfare.<\/p>\n

While the study answers questions about hormonal regulation, there is still the question of why are the Turkana cortisol levels \u201cnormal\u201d in those diagnosed with PTSD compared with Western populations?<\/p>\n

The study cites many possible reasons including physical activity and cultural differences. The scientists say more research is needed.<\/p>\n

A previous publication by Zefferman and Mathew stated that, unlike soldiers of nation-state societies, \u201cTurkana warriors are strongly endorsed by the whole community, have elevated status, perform culturally sanctioned rituals after raids, and are deeply integrated with their corresponding civilian community.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese longstanding cultural traditions of warriorhood may buffer them from some of the negative physiological responses to combat trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mathew and the others emphasize the importance of sharing their findings with the Turkana. The researchers have engaged with the community over several years, and discuss findings from this and other ongoing studies and what these findings mean for future research.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can only do this research because of the support and help of the people we do the research with \u2014 the Turkana,\u201d Zefferman said. \u201cWe acknowledge that their willingness to work with us is what has allowed us to do this research with potential benefits to our society.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe go there at the grace of the people we work with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reference: \u201cLittle evidence that posttraumatic stress is associated with diurnal hormone dysregulation in Turkana pastoralists\u201d by Matthew R Zefferman, Michael D Baumgarten, Benjamin C Trumble and Sarah Mathew, 17 February 2025, Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health<\/i>.
\nDOI: 10.1093\/emph\/eoaf004<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Arizona State University
Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new study by researchers from Arizona State University and the Naval Postgraduate School analyzed the relationship between PTSD and hormones in the non-industrialized Turkana society, revealing that Turkana warriors with PTSD had lower morning testosterone but no significant difference in cortisol levels. This challenges previous findings in Western populations and suggests cultural and environmental<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":845097,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32398,22169],"tags":[18420,10747],"class_list":{"0":"post-845096","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-findings","8":"category-surprising","9":"tag-findings","10":"tag-surprising"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845096","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=845096"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/845096\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/845097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=845096"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=845096"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=845096"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}