Veterans for Common Sense (VCS) offers VA regulators two recent scientific studies showing the enormous adverse impact on veterans' physical health due to post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The two new studies highlight the significant and urgent need to issue final regulations: the sooner the Veterans Benefits Administration grants service connection to veterans with PTSD, then the better positioned our veterans are to access VA medical care and thus receive potentially life-saving treatments.

View our our original VCS comments

Study 1: “Vietnam veterans who experienced [PTSD] were twice as likely to die from heart disease as veterans without PTSD. In a study published in the July issue of Psychosomatic Medicine, Geisinger Senior Investigator Joseph Boscarino, PhD, MPH examined the prevalence of heart disease, PTSD and other problems in more than 4,000 Vietnam veterans.  The more severe the PTSD diagnosis, the greater the likelihood of death from heart disease, the study showed” (“PTSD Causes Early Death From Heart Disease, Study Suggests,” Science Daily, July 8, 2008).

Study 2: “Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder face an increased risk for dying after surgery, even if the surgery is performed years after they have completed their service, according to a U.S. study.  After the researchers adjusted for age and preexisting medical conditions – including heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, smoking and depression -- they found that veterans with PTSD were 2.2 times more likely to die within a year of surgery than those without PTSD” (Post-Traumatic Stress May Raise Death Risks: Veterans with disorder more likely to die within a year of major surgery, study finds,” Health Day / U.S. News and World Report, October 17, 2009).

Submitted on October 23, 2009, at www.regulations.gov.