A study of post-traumatic stress disorder and its possible relation to impaired physical health in German adults aged 60 to 85 is published in Psychosomatic Medicine (2011;73:401-6, doi:10.1097/PSY.0b013e31821b47e8). In the representative sample from the general population, the researchers found significant associations between current post-traumatic stress disorder and cardiovascular diseases, cardiovascular risk factors for peripheral vascular disease, asthma, cancer, back pain, hearing loss, osteoporosis, stomach problems, and thyroid disorders.

People of African-Caribbean origin may have increased rates of dementia. A study from a general practice in London found that the prevalence of dementia in older people who’d migrated from a Caribbean island or Guyana was 10%, compared with 7% in their white UK born counterparts, after adjusting for the confounders age and socioeconomic status. Additionally, African-Caribbean people with dementia were on average nearly eight years younger than white people with dementia (British Journal of Psychiatry 2011;198:1-7, doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.110.086405).

Why do patients who’ve sustained …