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Combat PTSD may be linked to dementia
The study by Deborah Barnes, of the University of California, is the first to link combat-related PTSD to dementia later in life, but it is not clear if having PTSD increases the risk for late-life dementias or if recurring PTSD is an early symptom of dementia in older veterans.
There is evidence that chronic stress may damage the hippocampus, which is the area of the brain that is critical for memory and learning.
The study followed more than 180,000 mostly male older veterans for seven years, including 53,000 with a diagnosis of PTSD. None had dementia in late 2000, but roughly 31,000 (17%) had been diagnosed with the degenerative memory and thinking disorder by late 2007.
The veterans with PTSD had about an 11% risk of developing dementia over the seven-year period, compared to about a 7% risk among veterans without the stress disorder.
After adjusting for other risk factors related to the development of Alzheimer's disease and other late-life dementias, the veterans with PTSD were 77% more likely to develop dementia as those without it.
This finding remained even after researchers excluded patients with a history of head injury, substance abuse, or clinical depression.