PTSD Linked to Hardened Arteries

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects more than the mind. The disorder may damage blood vessels and increase the risk of dying early, according to new research presented today at an annual meeting of the American Heart Association.

The study included about 286,000 mostly male veterans between the ages of 45 and 81 who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and conflicts dating back to the Korean War. The vets with PTSD—who accounted for roughly 10% of the study participants—had more than double the risk of dying during the 10-year study compared to their peers who didn’t have disorder, the researchers found.

Twenty-nine percent of the vets with PTSD died during the study, compared to 8% of the vets without PTSD. (The overall death rate in the study was 13%.) The increased risk of death associated with PTSD held even after the researchers controlled for factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, and smoking.

A separate analysis involving heart scans from 637 of the veterans found that men and women with PTSD had more calcium buildup in their arteries than vets without post-traumatic stress. Calcium buildup is a hallmark of atherosclerosis (also known as hardening of the arteries), which can lead to heart attacks.

Among veterans with similar degrees of calcium buildup, those who had PTSD were 48% more likely to die of any cause during the study and 41% more likely to die from heart disease compared to those without PTSD, according to the study, which was led by Naser Ahmadi, MD, a cardiologist at the Greater Los Angeles Veterans Administration Medical Center.

“If a vet has PTSD, they need to be under surveillance for cardiovascular disease as they age,” says Joseph Boscarino, PhD, a senior investigator at Geisinger Center for Health Research, in Danville, Pa., and an expert on the link between post-traumatic stress and physical illness. Boscarino did not participate in the new study.

PTSD is an anxiety disorder that occurs after exposure to a traumatic event, including sexual abuse and military combat. People with the condition experience recurring, intrusive memories about the event, and may also experience emotional numbness and detachment.

Previous studies have linked PTSD to a greater risk of death and heart disease, but the new study is the first to explore what’s behind the relationship.