Vietnam veterans who endured intense fighting and later were diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are more likely than other vets suffer from a variety of chronic diseases 15 to 20 years later. Compared to the soldiers who have seen little combat in Vietnam and do not develop PTSD, they are 50% to 150% more likely to develop heart disease, weakened immune systems, infections, arthritis and respiratory and digestive problems.
All of these problems can arise from a single source - the high state of nervous excitement induced post-traumatic stress, according to a study published in the current issue of Psychosomatic Medicine . The only combat memory can keep victims of PTSD constantly "on guard", inducing mental tension and almost continuous physical. This on-excitation causes the endocrine system to release a steady stream of hormones and other chemicals havoc with the body over a period of years, says author Joseph Boscarino, an epidemiologist and social psychologist with initiatives Catholic health, a chain of the national hospital.
in 1988, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta gave detailed physical examinations to nearly 4500 of 4.9 million veterans who had been in the army between 1965 and 1971. CDC members of staff found that among those who had served in Vietnam, there were many psychological problems and some medical problems. But Boscarino, himself a Vietnam veteran, says the CDC researchers never connected the two, probably because its social medical and scientific investigators worked in separate groups. By separating the soldiers in heavy fighting groups PTSD and light battle PTSD, it could strongly bind the serious health problems in the fight against stress.
The new analysis provides "a clear and direct evidence" that PTSD causes physical damage, said Charles Figley, an expert from PTSD at Florida State University in Tallahassee. He and Terence Keane, director of the National Centre for post-traumatic stress disorder at the Boston veterans health administration Center, would like to take another look at Vietnam veterans to see if their condition has worsened since the 1980s "These guys are 48-50 now," Keane said, "and this is the point where you will start to see some serious diseases develop."
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