Sick Bay:	Bob Dymerski	Home
Taps:	John Scheibelhut
	Jean Crews (AUX)

 

OPINION: It is more likely than not that the veteran's service connected post-traumatic stress disorder is a primary or contributory cause of his death. I feel definitely that the service-connected PTSD significantly contributed to the veteran's death from heart disease.

RATIONALE: Review of the patient's progression of his disease, diagnoses, circumstances of his death, all contained in the medical record. In addition, I must refer to the following published research:

1. Research conducted by Dr. Laura D. Kubsansky and colleagues, at the Harvard School of Public Health and published in the January 2007 edition of the Archives of General Psychiatry, found that veterans with PTSD were at greater risk for both non-fatal heart attack and fatal coronary artery disease. This was based on a study 1946 male veterans of WWII and Korea. This study controlled for smoking and alcohol consumption, and took into account those veterans with a family history of heart disease.

2. Research headed by Dr. Joseph Boscarino at the Dept of Outcomes Research, Catholic Health Initiatives, Louisville, KY, examined 4462 male Vietnam War Veterans with and without diagnosed PTSD. This study also controlled for smoking, alcohol consumption, drug abuse, income, education, race, and age. The study found a clear and positive link between PTSD and EKG results consistent with a higher rate of heart disorders and a higher indication of previous heart attacks. The study was published in the 1995 edition of the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

3. A subsequent study by Dr. Joseph Boscarino, now senior investigator, Geisinger Health Initiatives, and published in the July 2008 edition of Psychosomatic Medicine, took a national sample of Vietnam veterans, and excluded patients with a prior history of heart disease. This study also concluded that veterans who PTSD are at higher risk of early death from heart disease, and that the more severe the PTSD, the greater the risk. The study also showed that veterans with PTSD had dramatically higher rates of chronic health problems, such as psoriasis, arthritis, and other inflammatory diseases.

4. The August 2006 "Harvard Heart Letter" indicates that post-traumatic stress disorder from any type of trauma not only causes emotional and psychological distress, it may also slow recovery and hasten the progression of heart diseases.

5. A study by Drs. Updesh Bedi and Rohit Arora entitled "Cardiovascular Manifestations of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder" and published in the June 2007 edition of the Journal of the National Medical Association concluded among other things that PTSD is associated with hyper functioning of the central noradrenergic systems and that this hyperactivity of the smypathoadrenal axis might contribute to cardiovascular disease through the effects of catecholarnines on the heart, the vasculature, and platelet function.

 

See you the 3rd Saturday of the month 9AM – 11AM.

                                                                          Ed McKeon

                                                                        Service Officer

 

 

SCHOLARSHIPS

 

We now have the scholarship applications at the Post canteen.  If you are a member in good standing and your child, grandchild or great grandchild is a senior in high school, it wouldn’t hurt to apply.  We are early so the child can get his or her volunteer hours in as needed and they can study for their midterm exams.  I need them in my possession by February 1st, 2009.  Disregard what the application says; I must have them by February 1st, 2009 so I can write a letter of recommendation.

 

                                                                        Ed McKeon

                                                                        Service Officer