About 3000 people lost in the attacks on September 11. September 2001 on the World Trade Center in New York City her life. In the following weeks, tens of thousands of Volunteers supported the clean-up work at the site of the terror. They were not only witness to the devastation around Ground Zero, but often also of human Remains in the rubble to be confronted. Among the consequences, many of them are suffering until today, as a recent study shows.
Voluntary clean-up helpers have diseases, therefore, a significantly increased risk for psychological trauma, and cardiovascular. One in five men (20 percent), helped in the weeks and months after the collapse of the World Trade center, developed according to the study, a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In the case of the women it was even every Fourth (26 percent).
The proportion of individuals with PTSD was at the helpers twice as high as in the average population, writes the research team. People with post-traumatic stress disorder living through the stressful Situation again and again, for example, in nightmares. Even if you are Irritate exposed, which will connect you with the experiences, about the smell of smoke – it can cause such Flashbacks. A common consequence is that people try to avoid such situations, in the extreme case you leave your apartment. Also, an extreme tension and irritability are typical.
Further follow-up: More heart attacks and strokes
For their study, the researchers accompanied almost 6500 of voluntary workers for more than a decade, with 83 per cent of them were men. The participants were first work shortly after the salvage extensively studied. From 2012 to mid-2016, the researchers analysed also the frequency of heart attacks and strokes in the group. At the beginning of that Phase, participants in the Mediterranean 51 years old.
The traumatized helper diseased, therefore, significantly more likely to have cardiovascular disorders. The risk for a heart attack or stroke was higher in the group of PTSD-Affected by the factor of 2.4 higher than in the rest of the volunteers – regardless of gender.
Surprisingly, it played the classic risk factors such as high blood pressure, Obesity and high cholesterol levels in the participants not a big role. Also in the extent to which they were exposed to the dust clouds, not, influenced the risk for myocardial infarction and stroke in the four-year observation period reported, the Team of Molly Remch of the City University of New York, and Zoey Laskaris of the University of Michigan in the journal “Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes”.
The researchers do not know whether or not your results on all of the 90,000 people who helped after the attacks, are not transferable. Do you think the study but very high explanatory power – because all of the participants experienced a similar traumatic event, and at the same time.
Karl-Heinz Ladwig from Helmholtz Zentrum München, who was not involved in the study, speaks of an important study, which impress by their size. Other violent disasters, such as Tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, or earthquakes could have for victims and helpers similar consequences.
Generally speaking, post-traumatic stress disorders were permanent and difficult to treat. The reason for this is that many Traumatized tended to withdraw and not to neglect themselves. “If Doctors get to see such patients regularly, you could turn away a lot of health consequences.”
Video: chronicle of the 11. September 2001
