Thursday, June 30, 2011

Health | Brains of vets with PTSD can change as they age | Seattle Times Newspaper

SAN FRANCISCO — Combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder are more likely to have dementia, cardiac problems and structural changes in the brain as they get older than veterans without PTSD, according to new research.

The findings, which for the most part resulted from research at the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, raise concerns about the overall health of aging veterans, but hold promise for the potential of helping to treat these diseases.

"Our concern is that veterans who honorably serve our country ... are at greater risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and over the next 10 to 20 years we will see a lot of Alzheimer's in the veteran population,"said Dr. Michael Weiner, director of the institution's Center for Imaging of Neurodegenerative Diseases.

San Francisco Chronicle

Health | Brains of vets with PTSD can change as they age | Seattle Times Newspaper

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