PTSD Means Long-Term Risk For Physical Disease

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) 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.

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.

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.

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.

Read more: PTSD a Risk Factor for Long-Term Disease