FindCounseling.com Staff <a href="/glossary/ptsd-post-traumatic-stress-disorders.html">Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)</a> has been linked to a wide range of health problems including diabetes, fibromyalgia and heart disease. Now, research on Vietnam veterans shows that a PTSD diagnosis is as bad as elevated white blood cell counts, which often indicate serious infection or blood disorders, when it comes to predicting future health. <br /> <br />The study looked at 4,462 Vietnam-era veterans, but researchers note that the findings are equally relevant for individuals who develop the disorder through other traumatic events. <br /> <br />After adjusting for a wide range of other risk factors including age, obesity, depression and alcohol use, results showed that veterans diagnosed with PTSD in the mid-1980s were twice as likely to die from a disease by 2000 than other veterans. <br /> <br />The findings suggest that mental health screenings can provide as valuable an indicator of health and mortality risk as blood work and other routine tests. <br /> <br /><strong>Read more:</strong> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/13/AR2008021302283.html">PTSD a Risk Factor for Long-Term Disease</a> <br /> disorder, traumatic, stress, ptsd, Veterans, health, post, Vietnam 2008-09-06T11:13:25-05:00 5717 disorder, traumatic, stress, ptsd, Veterans, health, post, Vietnam /help/news/2008/02/ptsd_means_longterm_risk_for_physical_problems.html true 2008-02-13T05:34:27-06:00 ptsd_means_longterm_risk_for_physical_problems Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has been linked to a wide range of health problems including diabetes, fibromyalgia and heart disease. 2009-02-19T10:01:21-06:00