Scientists link PTSD with Dementia Risk
Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have a greater risk of dementia than veterans without the condition, even if they experienced traumatic injuries during combat, according to a new study by US scientists.
A study reported in the September issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society suggests that veterans with PSTD resulting from exposure to life-threatening events, are twice as likely to be diagnosed with dementia.
Report co-author Mark Kunik MD MPH, a psychiatrist at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center, Texas, said: “Although we cannot at this time determine the cause for this increased risk, it is essential to determine whether the risk of dementia can be reduced by effectively treating PTSD. This could have enormous implications for veterans now returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Fellow co-author Salah Qureshi MD, a staff psychiatrist and investigator with the Houston VA Center of Excellence, added: “It will be important to determine which veterans with PTSD are at greatest risk and to determine whether PTSD induced by situations other than war injury is also associated with greater risk.”
Head of Research at the UK’s Alzheimer’s Research Trust, Dr Simon Ridley, accepted the research suggested a hidden legacy of past and present conflicts: greater dementia incidence among veterans with PTSD. “We don’t know the cause of this increased risk, but it is vital to find out,” he said. “Understanding the link between the two conditions could offer hope of finding ways to reduce the increased risk associated with PTSD.”
Given that the report shows that most people with PTSD do not develop dementia, its authors accept that there could be several explanations for their findings, and have called on further study to be undertaken with a broader sample in the civilian population.
