Does Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Increase the Risk of Metabolic Syndrome?
People suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) face a greater risk of cardiovascular disease and death. A new study involving a comprehensive review of the medical literature shows that PTSD also increases an individual’s risk of metabolic syndrome. What links these two disorders is not clear, according to a study published in Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available on the Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders website.
Francesco Bartoli and coauthors from University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy, University College London, UK, and San Gerardo Hospital, Monza, Italy, conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis and, based on their findings, propose that the increased risk of metabolic syndrome may result from neurological and hormonal responses to chronic stress. Their study is entitled “Metabolic Syndrome in People Suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.”
In an accompanying Editorial, “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Metabolic Syndrome: More Questions than Answers,” authors Dawn Schwenke, PhD, VA Health Care System and Arizona State University, Phoenix, and David Siegel, MD, Northern California Health Care System (Mather) and University of California, Davis, suggest that more research is needed to determine whether the relationship between PTSD and metabolic syndrome is independent of other factors such as socioeconomic status, diet, physical activity, smoking, alcohol consumption, and insomnia.
“While Bartoli and colleagues conclude from their meta-analysis that PTSD confers a greater risk for metabolic syndrome, Schwenke and Siegel in their editorial suggest caution, explaining that it is not a simple relationship and many confounding factors could explain this,” says Ishwarlal (Kenny) Jialal, MD, PhD, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal and Distinguished Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Internal Medicine (Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism), Robert E. Stowell Endowed Chair in Experimental Pathology, Director of the Laboratory for Atherosclerosis and Metabolic Research, Director Special Chemistry and Toxicology, Davis Medical Center (Sacramento). “In agreement with the latter, I believe this is a fertile area for further investigation before any definite conclusions can be drawn.”
PTSD and obesity commonly co-occur. People with PTSD are at risk for being diagnosed with other psychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety disorders, and substance use disorders. Besides psychiatric disorders, compared to those without PTSD, people with PTSD are also more likely to have problems with their physical health. For example, PTSD has been connected to such physical health problems such as:
Cardiovascular disease
Arthritis
Asthma
Back pain
Diabetes
Ulcers
Some of these physical health problems may be due to the fact that PTSD has been connected to high rates of obesity.
Obesity
Obesity is determined by your body mass index or BMI. Basically, your BMI is a number that describes the relationship between your weight and height (You can calculate your BMI here). A BMI of over 25 is considered overweight and over 30 is considered obese.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, obesity rates in general have been increasing dramatically over the past 20 years. In fact, in 2006, in the United States, only four states had a obesity rate of less than 20%. Twenty-two states had rates of obesity at or greater than 25%.
About the Journal
Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders is the only peer-reviewed journal to focus solely on the pathophysiology, recognition, and treatment of metabolic syndrome. The Journal covers a range of topics including insulin resistance, central obesity, glucose intolerance, dyslipidemia with elevated triglycerides, predominance of small dense LDL-cholesterol particles, hypertension, endothelial dysfunction, and oxidative stress and inflammation. In 2014, the Journal will be published 10 times per year. Tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders website.
About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Childhood Obesity, Diabetes Technology & Therapeutics, and Thyroid. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 80 journals, newsmagazines, and books is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.
Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are more likely to have metabolic syndrome than veterans without PTSD, according to a study led by Pia Heppner, Ph.D., psychologist with the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and Veterans Affairs of San Diego, VA Center of Excellence for Stress and Mental Health (CESAMH). The study will be published online January 8 by the journal BMC Medicine.
Metabolic syndrome is composed of a cluster of clinical signs including obesity, high blood pressure and insulin resistance and is also associated with cardiovascular disease.
The researchers studied a group of male and female veterans presenting for screening and treatment within the PTSD programs at the Cincinnati Veterans Affairs Medical Center. The sample was primarily male (92%) and Caucasian (76%), with an average age of 52 years. A majority of the sample had served in the U.S. Army (71%), and close to 70 % were Vietnam-era veterans. Clinical data indicate that over half (55%) of these veterans had moderate to severe levels of PTSD and 64% met criteria for major depressive disorder (MDD). About 40% of the veterans met criteria for metabolic syndrome.
Controlling for other factors such as age, gender, depression and substance abuse, the researchers found that those with a higher severity of PTSD were more likely to meet the diagnostic criteria for metabolic syndrome. Additionally, the rate of metabolic syndrome was higher among those with PTSD (34%) than in those with MDD (29%). For those with both PTSD and MDD, 46% met criteria for metabolic syndrome.
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