Aging vets take stress disorder to heart
By Bruce Bower
Veterans grappling for decades with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have a greater risk of developing and dying from heart disease than do their peers who don’t suffer from the stress ailment, according to a long-term study.
Male military veterans who approach their senior years with pronounced PTSD symptoms experience a particularly large number of nonfatal heart attacks and fatal heart conditions, say psychologist Laura D. Kubzansky of the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston and her colleagues.