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Symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are found to be very common in women who have been newly diagnosed with breast cancer. The risk is more than 50% higher among black and Asian women.
1 in 4 Breast Cancer Diagnoses May Spur PTSD FRIDAY, March 1 (HealthDay News) — Nearly one in four breast cancer patients has symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder shortly after they receive their cancer diagnosis, and the risk is highest in black and Asian patients, a new study reveals.Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is a psychiatric disorder that can occur when a person has experienced or witnessed a life-threatening event.Researchers interviewed more than 1,100 breast cancer patients over the age of 20 and found that 23 percent of them had PTSD symptoms during the first two to three months after diagnosis. However, those symptoms declined over the next three months.
Younger women were more likely than older women to have P…
via www.medicinenet.com by (author unknown) // Read More >>
Ultimately, the outcome of this research is to better improve the quality of patients’ lives. Potential risk factors of PTSD need to be identified when women are diagnosed with breast cancer. If this can be achieved, early prevention and intervention can be used to minimize PTSD symptoms. PTSD symptoms can be associated with other cancer diagnoses as well.
