VIDEO: September 11 Witnesses Suffering From Asthma and PTSD, High Cholesterol in Middle Age Linked to Alzheimer's Disease, Antidepressant Use Doubles in US

05.08.2009 | 1:47 min

(August 5, 2009 - Insidermedicine) From New York – According to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, witnesses to 9/11 are still suffering from health problems years after the attack. Researchers studied the incidence of both asthma and post-traumatic stress disorder in passers-by, residents and rescue workers 6 years after the terrorist attack. 10% of people who had no previous history of asthma now suffer from the condition, while nearly 24% have received a diagnosis of PTSD. These results illustrate the severe mental and physical consequences of terrorist attacks, even years after the events themselves.  From Finland – Middle aged people with high cholesterol could be at increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s later in life, according to research published in the journal Dementia and Geriatric Cognitive Disorders. Following nearly 10,000 people in their 40s for up to 40 years, researchers found that those who had a cholesterol reading of at least 240 were at a 66% increased risk of having alzheimers disease later in life. And finally, from New York – According to a report published in the Archives of General Psychiatry, antidepressant use in the United States has recently doubled. Researchers surveyed nearly 50, 000 people in a nine year period, finding that antidepressant use increased from less than 6% in 1996 to more than 10% in 2005. This study shows how pharmacological treatment is increasingly used in lieu of psychotherapy. For Insidermedicine In 60, I'm Dr. Susan Sharma.
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