Research Suggests Newest Veterans May Suffer Early Aging.

USA Today (9/6, Zoroya) reports there “is emerging evidence that” American’s newest combat veterans “appear to be growing old before their time,” with former troops in their 20s and 30s showing “early signs of heart disease and diabetes, slowed metabolisms and obesity — maladies more common to middle age or later.” If this is early aging, scientists say it won’t be proven “until they can study these veterans over the next few years.” Still, “scientists with the Department of Veterans Affairs are rushing to understand” the research, which suggests the condition is “most common to those with both blast-related concussion and PTSD.” Scientists suggest that “early aging might stem from the nature of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars, where troops served long and repeated deployments at an unprecedented rate.”

Related Links:

— “War might be making young bodies old, “Gregg Zoroya, USA Today, September 6, 2012.

Posted in In The News.