Post-traumatic stress disorder and cardiovascular disease

Abstract

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychological-psychiatric state caused by exposure to stressful, traumatic events that manifests as a vivid reminiscence of them by flashbacks, nightmares, reccurent memories, emotional and physical manifestations. Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are of interest in patients suffering from PTSD because there is an increasing body of evidence that these pathologies are linked. Hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, and other cardiovascular risk factors are common in patients with PTSD and all of them increase the incidence of coronary syndromes, both chronic and acute. Posttraumatic stress disorder has a major impact on the lifestyle and health of subjects exposed to trauma or stress. Cardiovascular diseases tend to appear sooner in PTSD diagnosed patients due to a variety of reasons: poor habits, low addressability to health care systems, chronic inflammation status, changes at molecular levels, etc. Otherwise, PTSD tends to be induced by CVD, thus inclining the balance towards whis association. According with data published until now, there is a strong pathophysiologic relatonship between PTSD and some CVD; there is also outlining a vice versa relationship, from some CVD to PTSD.