Study on Dementia Risk

Week of July 27, 2009

A new study presented recently at the International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease in Vienna shows that older veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are nearly twice as likely to develop dementia as those who do not have the disorder. The study followed about 181,000 veterans age 55 and older in the VA's National Patient Care Database. The author of the study, Dr. Kristine Yaffe -- a University of California, San Francisco professor and director of the Memories Disorders Clinic at the San Francisco Veteran's Administration Medical Center -- said the study makes it clear that "it is critical to follow patients with PTSD and evaluate them early for dementia."

More information and resources on PTSD.