Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is something we associate with military veterans and civilians who have been the victims of violet crimes.
New research, however, is finding that this disorder is actually quite prevalent among those who have experienced a heart attack or other significant cardiac event. Having this disorder can actually increase the risk of a subsequent heart attack or significant cardiac event, making this research critical for protecting patients.
The study “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Prevalence and Risk Recurrence in Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients: A Meta-analytic Review” was conducted by Columbia University Medical Center and headed by Dr. Donald Edmondson. The results were submitted on February 20 and published on Wednesday.
Here’s a closer look:
* The time following cardiac event survival is vital, as it determines who fully recovers and who experiences further issues. If PTSD occurs, this can greatly hinder the patient’s recover, as well as impact their survival.
* One in eight patients who have survived a cardiac event will experience PTSD. The research shows that those who do experience this have about double the risk of mortality or experiencing another cardiac event, according to the Public Library of Science.
* Many patients, and even some health care workers, mistake PTSD for depression. It is not uncommon to experience depression after a heart attack or other major illness, so this mistake is not hard to make. However, PTSD is more of an anxiety disorder that does have characteristics not seen in depression, such as reliving the traumatic event and repeated nightmares.
* “Given that approximately 1.4 million people in the U.S. suffer an acute cardiac event per year, this would indicate 168,000 patients will develop clinically significant PTSD symptoms as a result — and most will go unrecognized,” states Dr. Donald Edmondson, the lead author of the study.
* PTSD does have effective treatment methods, but it is critical that these are started as soon as the patient is stable following a cardiac event. Starting treatment this early, can also be beneficial in preventing PTSD in some cases. Because of the urgency in getting treatment started, it is important for health care professionals to be aware that PTSD can and does occur following cardiac events.
* “Despite the variation in the estimates of the prevalence PTSD appears to be a reasonably common occurrence after ACS and seems to be associated with worse outcomes,” states American Heart Association president, Dr. Gordon F. Tomaselli. “Further study is warranted but practitioners need to be alert to the possibility of PTSD after ACS and should institute treatment.”
R. Elizabeth C. Kitchen began her career in health care in 2002, when she began nursing school. She is now a full-time medical writer with expertise in a variety of health fields, specifically trauma, public health, cancer, infectious disease, women’s health, and research. She combines her education, experience, and passion for health and medicine to influence her writing.
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