The enzyme is usually present in high levels in the placenta to protect the fetus from the mother's circulating cortisol. Yehuda and her colleagues theorize that this adaptation happened in utero. Yet unlike their parents, they have higher than normal levels of the cortisol-busting enzyme. Like their parents, many have low levels of cortisol, particularly if their mothers had PTSD. Most recently, a new study looked at the descendants of the Holocaust survivors. This finding echoes the results of many other human epigenetic studies that show that the effects of certain experiences during childhood and adolescence are especially enduring in individuals and sometimes even across generations ( right). The younger the survivors were during World War II, the less of the enzyme they have as adults. The adaptation makes sense: reducing enzyme activity keeps more free cortisol in the body, which allows the liver and kidneys to maximize stores of glucose and metabolic fuels-an optimal response to prolonged starvation and other threats. It is not completely clear why survivors produce less cortisol, but Yehuda's team recently found that survivors also have low levels of an enzyme that breaks down cortisol. Survivors have lower levels of cortisol, a hormone that helps the body return to normal after trauma those who suffered post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have even lower levels. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Bronx, N.Y., and others had previously established that survivors of the Holocaust have altered levels of circulating stress hormones compared with other Jewish adults of the same age. Yehuda's team at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the James J. Their latest results reveal that descendants of people who survived the Holocaust have different stress hormone profiles than their peers, perhaps predisposing them to anxiety disorders. Rachel Yehuda, a researcher in the growing field of epigenetics and the intergenerational effects of trauma, and her colleagues have long studied mass trauma survivors and their offspring. A person's experience as a child or teenager can have a profound impact on their future children's lives, new work is showing.
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