Health issues linked to stress from 9/11, study says

Americans may be getting sicker because of stress and fear linked to 9/11, according to a study led by UCI researchers.

More than three years after 9/11, UCI scientists surveyed 2,000 adults from across the country tracking their health. The study showed a 53% increase in cardiovascular ailments in that period linked to 9/11. The link was particularly strong for people who reported continued anxiety about terrorism. They were three to four times as likely to have doctor-diagnosed heart problems years after the attacks. The study’s findings took risk factors such as smoking, cholesterol, diabetes and body weight into account.

The report is the first to show that people with no personal connection to the victims showed signs of post-traumatic stress in the days following 9/11, school officials said. They were twice as likely to report problems such as high blood pressure, heart problems and stroke up to three years later, said UCI nursing science professor Alison Holman, the study’s lead researcher.

Ongoing worries about terrorism include a worry that terrorism will personally affect them or their families. The study is published in January’s “Archives of General Psychiatry.”

— Joseph Serna