Vietnam War veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder are twice as likely to develop heart disease during a 13-year period.
The new study is the first long-term research of the link between PTSD and heart disease using objective clinical diagnoses combined with cardiac imaging techniques, according to the National Institutes of Health's press release.
"This study provides further evidence that PTSD may affect physical health," said Gary H. Gibbons, M.D., director of the NIH's National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), which partially funded the study. "Future research to clarify the mechanisms underlying the link between PTSD and heart disease in Vietnam veterans and other groups will help to guide the development of effective prevention and treatment strategies for people with these serious conditions."
The report was published online in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology on Thursday.
The scientist stated their findings in a press release:
"Researchers from the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health in Atlanta, along with colleagues from other institutions, assessed the presence of heart disease in 562 middle-aged twins (340 identical and 222 fraternal) from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. The incidence of heart disease was 22.6 percent in twins with PTSD (177 individuals) and 8.9 percent in those without PTSD (425 individuals). Heart disease was defined as having a heart attack, having an overnight hospitalization for heart-related symptoms, or having undergone a heart procedure. Nuclear scans, used to photograph blood flow to the heart, showed that individuals with PTSD had almost twice as many areas of reduced blood flow to the heart as individuals without PTSD."
According to the press release, researchers compared the 234 twins where one brother had PTSD and the other did not, they found the person suffering from the disorder was 22.2 percent more likely to have heart disease.
"This study suggests a link between PTSD and cardiovascular health," said lead researcher Viola Vaccarino, M.D., Ph.D., professor in the department of medicine at Emory University and chair of the department of epidemiology at the Rollins School of Public Health. "For example, repeated emotional triggers during everyday life in persons with PTSD could affect the heart by causing frequent increases in blood pressure, heart rate, and heartbeat rhythm abnormalities that in susceptible individuals could lead to a heart attack."
For more information about the PTSD study, click here. The published findings will be available in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology's print edition on Sept. 10.
