Veterans with PTSD at Higher Risk of Heart Disease
January 3, 2007 by Lei
Filed under Diseases & Conditions
Last month, I read What Was Asked of Us: An Oral History of the Iraq War by the Soldiers Who Fought It by Trish Wood. Just reading the soldiers’ stories was stressful, and they experienced it as an unrelenting force for days, weeks, and even months. A new study of male veterans of World War II and Korea has found that those with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are more likely to have heart attacks as they get older. Constant stress can lead to elevated adrenaline and cortisol levels leading to cardiovascular damage.
On December 8, 2005, a solder assigned to the 155th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward) died of a heart attack while on guard duty at a forward operating base in Kalsu, Iraq. And in June 2006, Army Staff Sgt. Darren Harmon, age 44, died of a heart attack in Haditha while at base camp.
Previous studies have also shown that veterans with PTSD have a higher likelihood of developing autoimmune diseases, such as arthritis and psoriasis. And soldiers involved in the war in Iraq have reported poor health, greater need for medical treatment, and more absences from work.
For more about PTSD, visit Ilona Meagher’s PTSD Combat.
ABC News, January 1, 2007
Tags: adrenaline, stress, cortisol, post-traumatic stress disorder, ptsd, iraq, war, soldiers, military, marines, heart, heart attack, heart disease, diseases, illness, health
