PTSD Doubles the Risk for Dementia

Full Article at: Dementia risk double in PTSD veterans: study

"We found veterans with PTSD had twice the chance for later being diagnosed with dementia than veterans without PTSD," said Mark Kunik, a psychiatrist at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Texas and senior author of the study, which appears in the September issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

"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."

The findings could have implications for veterans now returning from Afghanistan and Iraq, the researchers said.

In the study, researchers looked at the healthcare database information for 10,481 veterans at least 65 years of age who had been seen at the Texas VA Medical Center at least twice between 1997 and 1999. The researchers noted whether a vet was wounded during combat, regardless of whether they subsequently received a PTSD diagnosis, in order to have a confirmed group with injuries and combat experience."