( Men who fought in World War II the Kor...)Male Combat Veterans Rank High In Heart Disease Risk

Men who fought in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War are more likely to be heavy drinkers, heavy smokers and obese than men who are non-combat veterans or non-veterans, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association's 45th annual Conference of Cardiovascular Disease, Epidemiology and Prevention.

"Combat veterans were four times more likely to be heavy drinkers as opposed to never drinkers than non-veterans, and 1.6 times more likely to be heavy drinkers as opposed to never drinkers than non-combat veterans," said lead author Anne-Marie Johnson, M.S., a Ph.D. candidate in epidemiology at the University of North Carolina School of Public Health in Chapel Hill.

Heavy drinkers were defined as those who reported consuming 14 or more servings of beer, wine or hard liquor a week. Heavy smoking was determined by calculating the subjects' pack-years smoked (the number of years smoking multiplied by the number of packs smoked per day) and dividing the results into quartiles. The researchers used the standard definition of obesity, a body mass index of 30 or higher, she said.

"Consistent with younger veterans of more recent wars, older men with distant combat exposure had higher odds of heavy smoking, heavy drinking and obesity, but lower odds of physical inactivity compared to non-veterans or non-combat veteran controls," Johnson said.

Results from the study suggest that combat exposure may exert long-term adverse effects on cardiovascular risk.

After controlling for age, race and education, the study found that combat veterans were 1.9 times more likely to be heavy smokers as opposed to never smokers than non-veterans and 1.2 times more likely to be heavy smokers as opposed to never smokers than non-combat veterans. Combat veterans were 1.5 times more likely to be obese than non-combat veterans, and were slightly (1.1 times) more likely to be obese than non-veterans.

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Source:American Heart Association

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