Aug 1, 2009

PTSD Predictor?

From VA Watchdog. org:
The wellness company Allostatix has struggled to find a foothold selling Corporate America on the idea that its blood test can act as an early warning system for employee health problems.

Now, it’s hoping to make a deal with the military to show that the same test can predict which soldiers will struggle most with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Allostatix has been working with the Department of Defense to get the go-ahead to try to predict PTSD, which would begin with a study of active-duty soldiers and units of the Kentucky Army National Guard. The company recently raised $200,000, in part to be ready if the military approves the project, according to company executives and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. ...

The 4-year-old company, located just off the Xavier University campus in Cincinnati, is built around a blood test that measures allostatic load: the concept that the body’s stress response can accelerate disease and affect organs, including the heart. Allostatix’s test measures the damage and predicts (as far as five years out with 85 percent accuracy, according to the company) where a person’s health is heading.

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