Study: 1 in 5 returning soldiers suffer migraines, doubling risk for depression, PTSD

James Blake Miller, the 'Marlboro Marine', became an icon of the gritty American warrior in a picture published world-wide. After separating from the Marines, he was treated for PTSD and depression.

THURSDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- Almost one in every five U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq is being diagnosed with migraines, and this group has nearly double the risk for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and other psychiatric troubles, a new study finds.

"Any health-care provider who is evaluating a combat veteran for headaches should perform a mental health screen to ensure that comorbid psychiatric conditions are being identified and treated," said study author Maj. Jay C. Erickson, M.D., a neurologist at Madigan Army Medical Center at Fort Lewis, in Tacoma, Wash...

Links between anxiety, depression and migraine are not new, experts said.

Read the rest at the Washington Post

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