Abstract:
PTSD- Microbiome
Diagnosis and tretmant for PTSD
Project Status:
Filed provisional.
Pre clinic study finished.
Next step- clinical trial.
Background:
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental health condition that can develop after a person experiences or witnesses a traumatic event. 15-20% of survivals from a traumatic event will develop PTSD.
PTSD effects not only the person, but also his entire surroundings, and can develops a both emotional and financial burden on a family- social level. - In the national level there is also a socioeconomic burden both in the allocation of many resources for the treatment (psychiatrists and/or psychotherapists, equal investment of time for all trauma victims) and decrease of the patient's productivity at work.
The Problem:
- Today there are no biological markers for diagnosing PTSD.
- Early diagnosis of PTSD and treating it sooner is critical for preventing deterioration of the symptoms and even the developing of PTSD.
Today testing PTSD is not parametric (quantitative) but qualitative (questionnaires), and takes 1-3 months to evidently diagnose a PTSD patient.
- The existing drug treatments are not satisfactory, and there is also no unique drug for PTSD. The success rates of using drug treatment in PTSD are less than 50%.
Solution and project uniqueness:
We have found 3 specific bacteria in the gut microbiota (animal model) that are related to development of PTSD.
We can treat susceptible ('PTSD-like') animals with these 3 bacteria, with significant results for improvement of behavioral performance (up to a normalized behavior!).
we believe that we can provide a proper solution for the currently weakness of the diagnosis and treatment of PTSD.
1. A fast and easy early diagnosis of PTSD (instead of 1-3 months).
2. First aid treatment (for everyone how have been in a traumatic event) to prevent development of severe PTSD.
3. A supportive add-on treatment to increase resilience, for existing PTSD patients.
Market size:
The estimated prevalence of PTSD worldwide is around 3.6%. Among military veterans, the rate of PTSD is 11-20%.
In Israel the estimates are 9% and 35% in veterans.
After October 7th, estimates rates in Israel went up to 50-60% (!).
The global market in 16B$ with ager of 4.9% up to 26.1B$ in 2031 In Israel the market size is 1.5B NIS.
Sapir Mordechay, PhD.
Meklit Berhe-Tesfahun, PhD.
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