Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are more likely to have metabolic syndrome than veterans without PTSD, research shows.

Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of risk factors for heart disease and diabetes that include abdominal obesity, high blood pressure and insulin resistance. After controlling for other factors such as depression or substance abuse, researchers found a significant association between metabolic syndrome and PTSD.

Dr. Pia S. Heppner, from the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla and colleagues examined studied 253 veterans. The team reports that 139 met criteria for PTSD, 163 had major depression, and 101 had metabolic syndrome.

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was higher among those with PTSD only (34.3 percent) than among those with depression only (28.8 percent), but it was highest among patients with both PTSD and major depression (46.2 percent). Depression alone was not a significant predictor of metabolic syndrome risk.

The researchers also found that veterans with a higher severity of PTSD were more likely to meet the diagnostic criteria for metabolic syndrome. “This line of research suggests that stress and post-stress responses are related to long-term health outcomes,” Heppner noted in a written statement.

Any traumatic event or series of events can cause PTSD, and research shows that to 30 percent of people who have experienced a traumatic event may go on to develop PTSD and it may affect about 8 percent of people at some point in their lives.

The current findings, Heppner said, suggest that metabolic syndrome provides a useful framework for assessing the physical burden of PTSD and can be used to evaluate health risks that may be associated with combat exposure and PTSD.

“While more research is needed on the specific mechanisms by which patients with PTSD develop these conditions, physicians can encourage these at-risk individuals to adapt healthier lifestyles and practice stress management, and participate in psychological or pharmacological treatment of their PTSD,” Heppner advised.

SOURCE: BMC Medicine, January 9, 2009.