Congressman Joaquin Castro made an appeal to Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie on Wednesday, asking him to look into possible links between post-traumatic stress disorder and dementia.
Should those links be substantiated, implications could arise for veterans鈥� disability benefits. PTSD is considered a service-connected condition, meaning veterans who suffer from it can seek VA compensation. Dementia does not fall into that category. that PTSD may increase a person鈥檚 chances of getting dementia, though a causal link has not yet been found. Other research indicates that because the two conditions can be present with similar behavioral and psychological symptoms.
According to Castro, veterans groups in Congressional District 21 had 鈥渆xpressed concern that the Department of Veterans Affairs does not recognize dementia developed later in life as being a secondary condition of service-connected PTSD.鈥�
Castro said it鈥檚 time for the VA to evaluate its case records and weigh in on the matter.
鈥淚've written a letter to Secretary Wilkie, asking the VA to look into this issue and to give me their understanding of how they treat this relationship 鈥� what their position is on the relationship.鈥�
. The VA estimates that the condition affects 11 to 20 percent of post-9/11 veterans and 12 percent of Gulf War veterans in a given year. An estimated 30 percent of Vietnam-era veterans will experience the condition in their lifetime.
鈥淲e don't know how many, then, may be affected by Alzheimer鈥檚 and dementia,鈥� Castro said, 鈥渂ut it's something that we need to find out. So I'm going to keep pressing this issue.鈥�
Castro added he awaits Wilkie鈥檚 response, and that he may pursue legislation down the road.
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Carson Frame can be reached at carson@tpr.org or on Twitter
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