More bad news: PTSD increases risk of dementia
Published: June 9, 2010
The Archives of General Psychiatry this month features a pair of military-related studies on post-traumatic stress disorder. The first, which saw up to a third of soldiers returning from combat may suffer from some type of stress disorder, received a fair amount of attention from news outlets earlier this week.
The second study received less attention but might be more troubling. Researchers tracked more than 181,000 veterans 55 or older to see whether PTSD plays a factor in developing dementia later in life. The result? Those already struggling with the disorder were almost twice as likely as other veterans to suffer more serious cognitive impairment later in life.
Researchers said the results were the same after they accounted for existing head injuries, substance abuse and depression cases. About one in every nine veterans suffering from PTSD eventually suffered from dementia, as opposed to about one in every 16 non-PTSD veterans.
That unsettling news comes while NPR and ProPublica unveil their new investigative report showing that the military has little grasp on the problem of traumatic brain injuries among returning combat troops, leaving thousands vulnerable to lifelong mental and emotional problems. Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs officials say they're struggling to find answers.
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