Study Links VA PTSD to Dementia

San Diego, CAA study has linked Veterans' PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) to dementia later in life. The study did not prove that post-traumatic stress disorder causes dementia, but it did show that combat PTSD is linked to dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

Conducted by the VA Medical Center in Houston, the study examined approximately 10,500 veterans aged 65 and older who visited VA (Veterans Affairs) medical centers between 1997 and 1999. Researchers found that veterans who suffered post-traumatic stress disorder were twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's disease or other forms of dementia.

The study found that dementia occurred in 11.1 percent of patients who had post-traumatic stress disorder with no combat injury and in 7.2 percent of patients who had post-traumatic stress disorder and suffered combat injury. In patients with no post-traumatic stress disorder, 4.5 percent without combat injuries developed dementia and 5.9 percent with combat injuries developed dementia.

The study, published in the September issue of the Journal of American Geriatrics Society, does not prove that post-traumatic stress disorder causes dementia, but it does link the two and leaves room for further study to show causality.

"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 post-traumatic stress disorder. This could have enormous implications for veterans now returning from Iraq and Afghanistan," senior author Dr. Mark Kunik, a psychiatrist at the Michael E. DeBakey VA Medical Center in Houston, said in a journal news release.

There are a few explanations for the link between post-traumatic stress disorder and dementia, according to the study's authors. One is that the cognitive difficulties in post-traumatic stress disorder are an early sign of dementia; another is that post-traumatic stress disorder could increase the risk of developing dementia, or that post-traumatic stress disorder and dementia have common characteristics.

According to one researcher, both post-traumatic stress disorder and dementia affect the part of the brain that stores the memory, which could indicate how the two are linked.

Researchers conclude the study by noting that veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder should be screened more closely for dementia.