https://goo.gl/CIWbhK
A new study finds that adults with post-traumatic stress disorder are much more likely to experience sleep disorders, gastrointestinal problems, cardiovascular diseases, and numerous other health conditions. As such, researchers say that post-traumatic stress disorder should be considered a systemic disorder, as opposed to just a psychological condition.
The final sample included 108 veterans who had been diagnosed with PTSD, and 106 controls who were trauma-exposed veterans without PTSD.
The results of the analysis - recently published in the Medical Journal of Australia - revealed that the mean total number of comorbidities was higher among veterans with PTSD than the controls, at 17.7 and 14.1, respectively.
"For 24 of 171 assessed clinical outcomes, morbidity was greater in the PTSD group, including for conditions of the gastrointestinal, hepatic, cardiovascular, and respiratory systems, sleep disorders, and laboratory pathology measures," explain McLeay and colleagues.
"In regression analyses including demographic factors, PTSD remained positively associated with 17 adverse outcomes; after adjusting for the severity of depressive symptoms, it remained significantly associated with ten," they add.
Based on their findings, the researchers believe that PTSD should not be solely perceived as a mental health disorder. The team concludes that:
"The higher frequency of comorbid physical conditions suggests that PTSD be conceptualized not as a purely mental disorder, but rather as a systemic disorder.
Integrated healthcare strategies directed at the psychological and physical health of patients with PTSD, as well as rigorous control of risk factors, are likely to improve their quality of life and their survival."
In an editorial linked to the study, Prof. Alexander McFarlane, director of the Centre for Traumatic Stress Studies at the University of Adelaide in Australia, notes that treatments that only focus on psychological aspects of PTSD have "not served patients well."
"The limited effectiveness of evidence-based psychological interventions in people with PTSD, particularly in veteran populations, highlights the need to develop biological therapies that address the underlying neurophysiological and immune dysregulation associated with PTSD," adds Prof. McFarlane.