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Metabolic Syndrome Among People with PTSD: Epidemiological Overview

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Comprehensive Guide to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Abstract

Previous reports highlighted that traumatic stress exposure may have a key role on both mental and physical health. People suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) may have a shorter life expectancy than general population, mainly due to a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases. Several factors may explain this association, but, in recent years, there has been a growing concern on the relationship between metabolic syndrome and PTSD. According to previous reports on both community and special populations’ samples, e.g., war veterans, PTSD is associated with a higher risk of suffering from metabolic syndrome as well as obesity, diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia. Clinicians and mental health professionals should regularly assess and screen metabolic alterations among people with PTSD. The potential role of factors and mediators that might explain the nature of the co-occurrence of PTSD and metabolic syndrome – as well as specific interventions addressed to prevent and treat this comorbid condition – need further research.

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Abbreviations

95%CI:

95 % confidence interval

OR:

Odds ratio

PTSD:

Post-traumatic stress disorder

RR:

Relative risk

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Surgery and Translational Medicine, University of Milano Bicocca, Via Cadore 48, 20900, Monza (MB), Italy

    Francesco Bartoli, Annamaria Lax & Massimo Clerici

  2. Division of Psychiatry, University College London, Maple House, 149 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1T 7NF, UK

    Giuseppe Carrà

Authors
  1. Francesco Bartoli
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  2. Annamaria Lax
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  3. Giuseppe Carrà
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  4. Massimo Clerici
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Francesco Bartoli .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Buckinghamshire New University, Uxbridge, Middlesex, United Kingdom

    Colin R. Martin

  2. Kings College, London, United Kingdom

    Victor R. Preedy

  3. University of Westminster, London, United Kingdom

    Vinood B. Patel

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© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

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Bartoli, F., Lax, A., Carrà, G., Clerici, M. (2015). Metabolic Syndrome Among People with PTSD: Epidemiological Overview. In: Martin, C., Preedy, V., Patel, V. (eds) Comprehensive Guide to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08613-2_55-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08613-2_55-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-08613-2

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