More than six percent of Americans will develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in their lifetime. This potentially chronic condition disrupts lives, and can lead to or exacerbate existing health issues such as depression, anxiety, eating disorders, and suicidal thoughts.

Despite the high prevalence of PTSD, the US Food and Drug Administration has only approved two medications to treat this condition -- sertraline and paroxetine -- and both have shown only limited effectiveness in reducing PTSD symptoms.

PTSD is also common among military veterans; more than 10 percent of US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) patients experience these symptoms. Two years ago, researchers at Boston University School of Public Health (BUSPH) and the White River Junction Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Vermont began to investigate whether existing medications may improve PTSD symptoms, with funding from the National Institute of Mental Health.

During an initial exploratory analysis among a national cohort of VA patients, the researchers unexpectedly found that several new direct acting antiviral (DAA) medications used to treat hepatitis C virus infection were associated with PTSD symptom improvement. The findings were published in the journal Biological Psychiatry.

Date: August 22, 2022

Boston University School of Public Health. "Hepatitis C drugs may reduce PTSD symptoms." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 22 August 2022. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/08/220822145130.htm