Post-Traumatic Stress Boosts Heart Disease Risk

Vietnam Veterans Studied

Combat veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are six times more likely to suffer a heart attack than other vets, new research suggests.

The findings "give people another risk factor that has to be considered," just like smoking or high blood pressure, says lead researcher Dr. Joseph Boscarino, a senior scientist at the New York Academy of Medicine.

"This is a pretty powerful indication that something is going on that puts people at high risk," Dr. Boscarino says.

A Vietnam combat veteran himself, Dr. Boscarino presented his findings at the annual meeting of the American Psychosomatic Society in Orlando, Fla.

While the link between stress and heart disease may not seem surprising, Dr. Boscarino's study is unusual because it examines what happened two decades after a stressful event, in this case the Vietnam war.

"It's really hard to do these studies because you can't get access to a population 20 years after these events occur," he says.

Stress and Heart Disease Link

Before he started examining veterans, Dr. Boscarino reviewed 12 studies that together analyzed the experiences of more than 50,000 people exposed to war, disasters, child abuse, and sexual assault. He found all the research linked previous experience of stress to heart disease later in life.

Then, Dr. Boscarino analyzed the medical records of 2,490 Vietnam veterans who took part in a national study in 1986. At the time of the study, 54 of the veterans suffered from PTSD.

By examining their electrocardiograms for signs of cardiovascular disease, Dr. Boscarino found those veterans were six times more likely to have had a heart attack.

Dr. Boscarino adjusted the findings to eliminate any effect from factors such as alcohol abuse and smoking. And the men who suffered from the worst cases of post-traumatic stress had even higher heart attack rates.

It is not clear why lingering stress boosted the risk of heart attack. Dr. Boscarino speculates the body's increased secretion of stress hormones may contribute to clogged arteries.

The link between stress and heart disease does not surprise Jim Schmidt, chief operating officer of the Maryland-based Sidran Institute, which helps people suffering from PTSD.

"It's something that's been well known in the field, but has only been proven sporadically," Schmidt says. "If you ask anybody who works with trauma survivors, they're going to report an increase of physical symptoms of all kinds.

"Your body, like any machine, will wear out faster under stress than in a relaxed state," Schmidt says.

Recognizing Symptoms, Finding Help

Recovery programs offer the best hope of beating the stress symptoms, Schmidt says, but many sufferers do not seek help.

"Most people who have post-traumatic stress disorder are undiagnosed," he says. "They know they have these symptoms, which might be restlessness, trouble sleeping, nightmares, and periods they cannot remember. But most do not make the connection between those events and a prior traumatic event."

Once they seek counseling, however, the connection between the past and present "clicks," Schmidt says, as they realize "this is happening because this happened to me."

That, he says, "is one of the early steps toward recovery, understanding that the things happening to you are normal effects of exposure to trauma."

Always consult your physician for more information.

Online Resources

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American Psychological Association

American Psychosomatic Society

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

National Institute of Mental Health

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

National Library of Medicine

US Department of Heath and Human Services

April 2004

Post-Traumatic Stress Boosts Heart Disease Risk

Stress and Heart Disease Link

Recognizing Symptoms, Finding Help

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Defined

Online Resources

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Defined

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating condition that often follows a terrifying physical or emotional event - causing the person who survived the event to have persistent, frightening thoughts and memories, or flashbacks, of the ordeal.

Persons with PTSD often feel chronically, emotionally numb.

PTSD was first brought to public attention by war veterans and was once referred to as "shell shock" or "battle fatigue."

The likelihood of developing PTSD depends on the severity and duration of the event, as well as the person's nearness to it.

The event(s) that triggers PTSD may be:

Examples include:

Persons with PTSD experience extreme emotional, mental, and physical distress when exposed to situations that remind them of the traumatic event.

Some may repeatedly relive the trauma in the form of nightmares and disturbing recollections during the day, and may also experience the following:

The symptoms of PTSD may resemble other psychiatric conditions. Always consult your physician for a diagnosis.