MedWire News: People with post-traumatic stress disorder face a significantly greater risk of dying from heart disease than those without the condition, study results suggest.

A number of previous studies have suggested that people with post-traumatic stress disorder may be at increased risk of heart disease, but others have found no such association, explains Dr Joseph Boscarino, from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, USA.

To investigate further, he studied data 4328 male Vietnam war veterans who were free of heart disease at the start of the study in 1985.

Over an average monitoring period of around 15 years, Dr Boscarino found that participants with post-traumatic stress disorder at the start of the study were more than twice as likely to die of heart disease-related problems as those without the stress condition.

In addition, more severe symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder at the start of the study were associated with a greater risk of dying from heart disease related problems.

The findings remained true after accounting for heart disease risk factors such as age, obesity, smoking and alcohol abuse.

Dr Boscarino explained that post-traumatic stress disorder causes the release of stress hormones, which can lead to inflammation and damage to the arteries. These stress hormones also reduce the amount of inflammation-lowering cortisol in the body.

"Increased levels of stress hormones and less cortisol from post-traumatic stress disorder are a bad combination," said Dr Boscarino. "Basically, post-traumatic stress disorder just cooks your arteries in this situation."

He concluded: "The science is conclusively showing that if you suffer psychological trauma, it's going to take a toll on your physical health.

"Getting counselling today is critical to avoiding a related problem tomorrow."

The research is published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.