About this trial
The purpose of this study is to find out why patients with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have an increased risk for heart disease and high blood pressure later in life. A second purpose is to find out what causes PTSD patients to have high adrenaline levels during stress. This study will also test if a medicine called losartan improves high adrenaline levels in patients with PTSD and if a certain gene that has to do with high blood pressure might be associated with high adrenaline levels.
Eligibility criteria
Qualifiers
veterans ages 18-65 years old with PTSD and without PTSD (controls) matched for age, gender, and race.
Disqualifiers
pregnancy
hypertension
diabetes
heart or vascular disease
Trial design
Treatments tested in this trial
- Microneurography
- Combat virtual reality video clip
- Handgrip Exercise
- Cold Pressor Test (CPT)
- Sodium Nitroprusside (SNP)
- Phenylephrine
- Losartan
- Atenolol
- Transcutaneous Vagal Nerve Stimulation (tVNS)
- Sham Transcutaneous Vagal Nerve Stimulation (tVNS)
Treatment groups
6
Treatment groupsSee each treatment group below.
Sponsors and collaborators
Emory University
Lead sponsor
American Heart Association
Collaborator