PTSD, Heart Disease, and Acupuncture

I discovered this abstract quite by accident. It outlines a few simple points. First, as I explained to a patient recently: the quickest path between two theoretical points is often found via Chinese medicine.

As I have noted, although the diagnosis PTSD is somewhat problematic, I estimate that almost 80% of my patients present with conditions, ranging from simple pains, to generalized anxiety and chronic depression, to more significant neurological disorders such as MS, with evidence of overwhelming traumatic events that I can eventually correlate to the chief complaint via pulse diagnosis and history.

Other studies have demonstrated that acupuncture is effective in treating PTSD. I am writing a book entitled Healing Trauma with Chinese Medicine that describes the most thorough-going approach to the effective treatment of syndromes related to traumatic stress. A significant portion of that discussion is devoted to describing the mechanisms, from a Chinese medicine perspective, by which initial traumas can develop into other medical conditions. Heart disease, the subject of the abstract below, is but one example. According to the physiology of Chinese medicine, this is quite obvious, because the Heart, as the seat of consciousness, bears the brunt of the injurious effects of trauma. It is most common for this to play out in terms of other aspects of circulatory function, such as pain syndromes. However, over time shouldering the burden of the initial traumatic insult to the heart, as well as the increased work necessary for the circulation to overcome the secondary circulatory condition quite simply exhausts the heart and this produces signs finally observable by the cruder methods of identification such as EKG. From my perspective it is both predictable, and reversible.

A Prospective Study of PTSD and Early-Age Heart Disease Mortality Among Vietnam Veterans: Implications for Surveillance and Prevention

Boscarino JA.

Objective: To examine prospectively early-age heart disease (HD) among a national random sample of 4328 male Vietnam veterans, who did not have HD at baseline in 1985. Studies have suggested that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may result in cardiovascular disease. However, many past studies had important methodological limitations to their designs.

Method: Using Cox regressions, we assessed PTSD, age, race, intelligence, family history, obesity, smoking, alcohol abuse, antisocial personality, and depression in predicting HD mortality at follow-up in December 31, 2000. The men were <65 class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_13">PTSD measures, a Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 3rd Edition (DSM-III) measure (D-PTSD) and one developed by Keane (K-PTSD), we found that among Vietnam theater and era veterans combined (era veterans had no Vietnam service), having PTSD was associated with HD mortality for D-PTSD (hazard ratio (HR) = 2.25, p = .045) and approached significance for K-PTSD (HR = 2.16, p = .066). However, having higher PTSD symptoms on either scale was associated with mortality, with a 5-point increase associated with 20% increase in mortality risk (all p < .05). Controlling for lifetime depression only slightly altered the results. The effects for theater veterans alone were stronger (D-PTSD: HR = 2.58, p = .025; K-PTSD: HR = 2.73, p = .022). Among theater veterans, controlling for lifetime depression or combat exposure made little difference.

Conclusion: PTSD was prospectively associated with HD mortality among veterans free of HD at baseline. This study suggests that early-age HD may be an outcome after military service among PTSD-positive veterans.