New PTSD news

PTSD

Risk of death nearly doubled for Vietnam veterans with PTSD

Published December 04, 2015 Reuters


Higher than average death rates among Vietnam War veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) suggest that combat trauma may still be affecting veterans' health even decades after the war, according to a new study.

U.S. veterans of the Vietnam War followed from the 1980s to 2011 were almost twice as likely to die during that period if they had PTSD compared to those without the disorder.

The findings can inform healthcare for Vietnam veterans, now mostly in their 60s and older, and prevention efforts for the next generation of soldiers, the study team writes in the American Journal of Epidemiology.

"The study offers really valuable empirical information that can help us better understand how to care for our Vietnam veterans . . . and also more recent veterans," said study author Nida Corry, of Abt Associates in Durham, North Carolina.

PTSD can develop after a person has been through a traumatic event like combat, child abuse or sexual abuse, terrorism attacks and other disasters, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. Symptoms can include flashbacks, avoiding reminders of the traumatic events, changes in beliefs and activities and being overly alert, according to the VA.

A study published earlier this year estimated that more than 1 in 10 Vietnam war zone veterans still have PTSD or some symptoms of the disorder (see Reuters Health story of July 22, 2015, here: http://reut.rs/1NsyrVe).

Previous studies have also suggested that Vietnam vets - especially those who served in the war zone - are at increased risk of death, and that the added risk may be related to PTSD. However, those studies were often limited, according to the authors of the current study.

For the current study, the researchers from Abt Associates, New York University in New York City and other organizations analyzed information collected from 1987 to 2011 on nearly 2,400 Vietnam veterans, including 1,632 who served in the combat theater, which included Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

Some Political Observations

APOLITICAL APHORISMS:

If God wanted us to vote, he would have given us candidates. ~Jay Leno~

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. ~Aesop~

If we got one-tenth of what was promised to us in these Election speeches, there wouldn't be any inducement to go to heaven. ~Will Rogers~

Politicians are the same all over. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river. ~Nikita Khrushchev~

When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become Prime Minister or Premier; I'm beginning to believe it. ~Clarence Darrow~

Why pay money to have your family tree traced; go into politics and your opponents will do it for you. ~Author unknown~

Politicians are people who, when they see light at the end of the tunnel, go out and buy some more tunnel. John Quinton~

Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other. ~Oscar Ameringer~

I offer my opponents a bargain: if they will stop telling lies about us; I will stop telling the truth about them. ~Adlai Stevenson, campaign speech, 1952~

A politician is a fellow who will lay down your life for his country. ~ Tex Guinan~

Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the locks. ~Doug Larson~

There ought to be one day -- just one -- when there is open season on senators. ~Will Rogers~

Reprinted from Uncle Tim Bolgeos' The Revenge of Humpday!