New Evidence Links Psychological Trauma to Future Heart Disease

ORLANDO, March 5--People who have experienced traumatic stress events such as combat service or urban disaster are at greater risk of developing heart disease down the road, according to new research by The New York Academy of Medicine being presented today at the American Psychosomatic Society Annual Meeting in Orlando.

Dr. Joseph Boscarino, Senior Scientist at the Academy, reviewed the evidence from 12 different studies involving over 50,000 persons who were exposed to traumatic events such as war, disasters, child abuse and sexual assault. The evidence overwhelmingly suggested a link between trauma and heart disease.

To show that the heart disease was in fact strongly linked to psychological stress rather than other factors such as substance use or race, Boscarino examined the medical and mental health exam records of 2,490 Vietnam veterans who participated in a national study in 1986, about 17 years after serving in combat.

Fifty-four of the men whose records were examined had post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at the time of the study, Boscarino found. In addition, 30 men showed medical signs of having experienced a heart attack, based upon their electrocardiograms (ECGs). Their ECGs contained ???Q-wave infarctions,??? which suggest that they had previously suffered a heart attack. Boscarino then analyzed the association between PTSD and infarctions and found that veterans with PTSD had a six-times-higher rate for heart attack. Specifically, heart attacks were likely for about 7 percent of veterans with PTSD but for only about 1 percent of veterans without PTSD. Boscarino???s study controlled for IQ, lifestyle, personality, smoking, substance abuse, age, race, economic status and other factors.

???Our study now provides fairly strong proof that psychological trauma can cause heart disease in some persons,??? said Boscarino, Ph.D., M.P.H. He noted that heart attack rates were even higher for veterans suffering from depression or anxiety in addition to PTSD. ???This doesn???t mean everyone exposed to trauma will get heart disease, but that they may be at risk.???

On the positive side, the study also suggests that effectively treating PTSD may not only improve the victim???s quality of life but may also prevent future heart disease, said Boscarino, who is a Vietnam combat veteran. ???As this nation???s latest war veterans returns home, we need to do a better job of educating people about these consequences,??? he said.

The New York Academy of Medicine is a non-profit institution founded in 1847 that is dedicated to enhancing the health of the public through research, education, and advocacy, with a particular focus on urban populations, especially the disadvantaged.

Read coverage on CBS News Early Show and BBC News.

Posted on March 5, 2004

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Contact:
Andrew J. Martin
Director of Communications
The New York Academy of Medicine
1216 Fifth Avenue
New York, New York 10029
212-822-7285
amartin@nyam.org

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