James G. Fausone
\nVeteran Advocate<\/p>\n
More than one out of every 12 U.S. service members who died during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars were found during autopsy to have early signs of heart disease<\/a>. While none of the service members were diagnosed with heart disease prior to their deployments, all of them were found to have plaque buildup in the arteries around their hearts. How did such a young, fit group of people “pass” health screenings when they had early-stage heart disease?\u00a0 Many heart diseases such as plaque build up are asymptomatic in the early stages, showing no sign of trouble down the road.<\/p>\n In the civilian population, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>, heart disease accounts for roughly one-in-four deaths each year, or approximately 600,000 U.S. residents.<\/p>\n Autopsies performed on service members who died in combat or from other injuries between 2001 and 2011 were originally done to give an accounting (more…)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" James G. Fausone Veteran Advocate More than one out of every 12 U.S. service members who died during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars were found during autopsy to have early signs of heart disease. While none of the service members…<\/span><\/p>\n