Previous studies had shown that American veterans were in better health condition than the general population. But recent research indicates that their post deployment health is directly related to the lifestyle they lead after leaving the armed forces. In fact those from the Navy and Air Force were found to be in better health both physically and mentally than their counterparts from the Army.
Modifiable lifestyle factors like strength training, a good BMI, abstinence from smoking and physical exercise contributed to the general good health of the veteran. But post traumatic stress disorder especially after being in combat negatively impacted mental health.
The Millennium Cohort Study of 150,000 veterans is the longest and largest study to evaluate the effect of military service and deployment conducted by the US government. The inclusion of modifiable risk factors in this study will possibly help work out prevention strategies pertaining to post deployment ill health.
No comments:
Post a Comment