PTSD and cardiovascular disease

Researchers from the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Administration Center have been strengthening the research linking post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to heart disease. The researchers looked at the medical records of 286,194 veterans, 637 of whom had scans showing the thickness of their arteries. About three quarters of the veterans with PTSD had hardening of the arteries compared to 59% of those without PTSD. The veterans with PTSD were nearly two-and-a-half times more likely to die (of all causes) during the course of the study. Among the veterans with calcium build up in their arteries those with PTSD had a 48% greater risk of death overall and a 41% greater risk of dying fom cardiovascular disease.