Battlefield trauma

Thursday January 27th, 2011

Soldiers who undergo severe trauma on the battlefield may suffer major effects on their health later in life, according to a new study.

A new study links the experience of being wounded on the battlefield to a significantly increased risk of dying from heart disease.

Wounded veterans also went on to put on more weight than others, to suffer from mild depression and to be disabled, Finnish researchers reported.

The findings come from a study of veterans of Finland's involvement in World War II in the 1940s, when the country twice fought the Soviet Union.

By 1980 the veterans were 55 and were first studied by Dr Seppo Nikkari, from the University of Tampere, and were then tracked for 28 years.

He concluded that those who suffered wounding were 1.7 times as likely as others to die from heart disease.

During the 28 years of the study, some 412 veterans died - and 140 died from heart disease, the researchers report in the journal BMC Public Health.

Dr Nikkari said: "Our findings support the concept that the effects of traumatic events at early adulthood may have long-term consequences on an individual’s health."

Casualties of War: wounded veterans more likely to die of coronary heart disease.Tarja Kunnas, Tiina Solakivi, Jaana Renko, Anne Kalela, Seppo T Nikkari.BMC Public Health (in press)

Tags: A&E | Europe | General Health | Heart Health

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