Photo: ©iStock/Siarhei Khaletski

(06/26/2025) VA researchers from Boston, Palo Alto, and Seattle linked PTSD to hypertension in older male Vietnam Era Veterans, but did not find the same link for female Veterans. The researchers interviewed approximately 4,200 female Veterans and 5,800 male Veterans with a history of PTSD. While the rate of hypertension for female Veterans did not vary between those with and without PTSD, male Veterans reporting PTSD were more than one-and-a-half times as likely to have hypertension than male Veterans without PTSD. The findings suggest PTSD is a risk factor of hypertension for male Veterans, while biological differences may protect female Veterans from this risk. (Journal of Traumatic Stress, May 12, 2025)