Veterans Aging More Quickly?

Air Force Magazine:

open quoteMissing Out on Their Youth: Veterans Affairs Department scientists say returning Iraq and Afghanistan combat veterans’ bodies appear to be aging at an accelerated rate, reports USA Today. In addition to the psychological signs of post-traumatic stress and the effects of traumatic brain injuries, many former military personnel in their 20s and 30s are showing alarming early signs of heart disease and diabetes, slowed metabolisms, and obesity—maladies that usually surface later in life, states the newspaper’s Sept. 6 report. “They should have been in the best shape of their lives,” said William Milberg, a Harvard Medical School professor of psychology involved in this research. He added, “The big worry, of course, is we’re going to be taking care of them until they’re in their 70s. What’s going to happen to them in the long run?” Researchers still aren’t sure that their hypothesis is correct, according to the report. However, medical personnel are hoping they can get ahead of the problem “rather than waiting out 20 years to see [the combat veterans] wind up with early death and stroke and cardiovascular disease,” said Ann Rassmusson, a psychiatrist and neurobiologist.
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One comment

  1. Some of this is best known as bull shit.

    I am a veteran and at my age I am in reasonable
    condition.

    However, we have an illustration of the host of this
    site. He has apparently aged beyond his years. He
    is complain about bureaucracy. His outward productivity
    is suspect. At his age he should be writing an article a
    week or a novel a month.

    So we get an excuse that he is suffering from post combat
    stress? Has he taken a daily dose of Vitamin C? Of a
    multiple stress vitamin pill?

    As the daylight diminishes it is known that humans are
    increasingly subject to depression. Humans need a certain
    amount of UV for Vitamin D and other hormone production.

    Has our host not gotten his dose of sunshine?

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