- Soldiers suffering psychological traumas years after
serving in a war also experience poorer physical health, a series of studies
suggest.
-
- Those with post-traumatic stress disorder were more
likely to develop heart disease and cancer in later life than fellow war
veterans, they showed.
-
- The reasons are unclear but may be down to stress hormone
levels, experts say.
-
- New Scientist pieced together evidence including surveys
of more than 18,000 who had served in the Vietnam war.
-
- "Stress can kill." --Researcher Dr Joseph
Boscarino
-
- Latest research, to be published in Annals of Epidemiology,
re-analysed data gathered originally by the US Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention in 1985.
-
- Dr Joseph Boscarino and his team at the New York Academy
of Medicine divided the 18,000 veterans into those who suffered from post-traumatic
stress disorder (PTSD) and those who did not.
-
- They found stark differences in death rates between
the two groups over 30 years after the Vietnam war had ended.
-
- The men with PTSD, whether because of their combat service
or not, were far more likely to die from accidents, drugs or suicide.
-
- Death Risk
-
- However, those who developed PTSD as a result of the
stresses of war were also more likely to die of heart disease and various
types of cancer.
-
- Dr Boscarino said: "The excess deaths in both PTSD
groups show that stress can kill. But the much greater effects among combat
veterans shows there is something especially bad about that."
-
- A recent report in Social Science and Medicine showed
Israeli veterans with PTSD after the combat in Lebanon in 1982 were twice
as likely to have high blood pressure, ulcers and diabetes and five times
as likely to have heart disease and headaches as those who did not develop
PTSD.
-
- Service men who have been in combat zones should have
extra health screening throughout life
- Shaun Rusling, vice chairman of the National Gulf War
Veteran and Families Benevolent Association
-
- The authors, including Yael Benyamini from Tel Aviv
University, said PTSD was the key mechanism that leads from the trauma
to poorer health.
-
- However, it is not clear how.
-
- Dr Boscarino said the increased mortality found could
be related to biological, psychological or behavioural factors linked with
PTSD.
-
- Research suggests anxiety and depression can have a
negative effect on the body, such as making the heart more vulnerable to
irregular heart beats and increase the risk of blood clotting.
-
- Stressed war veterans may also be more likely to lead
unhealthy lifestyles, smoking and drinking excess alcohol, which could
in turn lead to poorer physical health.
-
- In Dr Boscarino's study, differences in smoking habit
did not explain the difference in cancer death rates between those with
and without PTSD.
-
- Shaun Rusling, vice-chairman of the National Gulf War
Veteran and Families Benevolent Association, said exposure to biological
agents during warfare might also be a factor.
-
- "What is clear is that war is not good for you.
That is a fact," he said.
-
- "Servicemen who have been in combat zones should
have extra health screening throughout life," he said, but added that
this was not happening at present.
-
- © BBC MMV
-
- http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/4179602.stm
|
