Stress disorder afflict 18.5 percent of the more than 1.5 million US forces who have deployed to the two war zones.

About 300,000 US troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder or depression, but about half receive no care, an independent study said.
The study by the RAND Corp. also estimated that another 320,000 troops have sustained a possible traumatic brain injury during deployment. But researchers could not say how many of those cases were serious or required treatment, Reuters reported.
Billed as the first large-scale nongovernmental survey of its kind, the study found that stress disorder and depression afflict 18.5 percent of the more than 1.5 million US forces who have deployed to the two war zones.
The numbers are roughly in line with previous studies. A February assessment by the US Army that showed 17.9 percent of US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan suffering from acute stress, depression or anxiety in 2007, down from 19.1 percent in 2006.
But the 500-page RAND study, based in part on interviews with more than 1,900 soldiers, sailors and Marines, also said that only half of troops suffering debilities receive care. And in half of those cases, the care is only minimally adequate.
“There is a major health crisis facing those men and women who have served our nation in Iraq and Afghanistan,“ said Terri Tanielian, a RAND researcher who helped head the study.
“Unless they receive appropriate and effective care for these mental health conditions, there will be long-term consequences for them and for the nation.“
The study said many service members do not seek treatment because they fear the stigma associated with psychological problems could harm their careers.
Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, can result from wartime trauma such as suffering wounds or witnessing others being hurt. Symptoms include irritability or outbursts of anger, sleep difficulties, trouble concentrating, extreme vigilance and an exaggerated startle response.
RAND, a private research organization, estimated that stress and depression among returning soldiers cost $6.2 billion in the two years following deployment, mainly due to lost productivity, medical costs and a higher risk of suicide.

The European Union hopes to draw up a joint plan of action in the fight against cancer by next year, European Health Commissioner Androulla Vassiliou said.
“We should come up with a common action plan against cancer in the EU next year,“ Vassiliou said on the sidelines of a two-day informal meeting of health ministers in Slovenia.
The emphasis will be on prevention as well as cure, said Vassiliou, who took over the EU’s health portfolio earlier this month, AFP reported.
Young people should be made more aware of the benefits of leading a healthy life so as to reduce the risk of cancer later in life, she said.
Excessive alcohol consumption, smoking and obesity during youth all increase the risk of cancer, and it is essential that young people be made aware of that, said Vassiliou.
Vassiliou said breast cancer was currently one of the biggest killers of women in the European Union. But she noted that preventative measures, such as regular screening, were proving effective in some countries.
Slovenia currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency and the informal meeting in Brdo Pri Kranju was to prepare for a gathering of EU health ministers in Luxembourg in June.

Wild fires are likely to be bigger, more frequent and burn for longer as the world gets hotter, in turn speeding up global warming to create a dangerous vicious circle, scientists say.
The process is being studied as part of work to develop a detailed map of global fire patterns which will be used with climate models to predict future fire trends, Reuters reported.
The scientists told a geoscience conference in Vienna they already predict fires will increase and could spread to previously fire-free parts of the world as the climate changes.
“An increase in fire may be the greatest early impact of climate change on forests,“ Brian Amiro from the University of Manitoba said.
“Our forests are more likely to become a victim of climate change than a savior,“ he added.
Last year more than 200 wild fires swept across parts of southeastern Europe, destroying homes and devouring woodland. In Greece 65 people died.

Common job-related problems such as conflicts with bosses or co-workers are more likely than long hours, night shifts or job insecurity to cause poor sleep.
That’s the conclusion of a study by University of Michigan researchers who analyzed data from two surveys of about 2,300 US adults who were followed for up to a decade. During that time, about half of the participants said they had trouble sleeping, reported HealthDay News.
“Together, work and sleep take up about two-thirds of every weekday. But until now, very little research has focused on the connections between work and sleep for the average workers,“ Sarah Burgard, an assistant professor of sociology and an assistant professor of epidemiology, said in a prepared statement.
In their analysis of the survey data, Burgard and graduate student Jennifer Ailshire found that work conditions affected sleep patterns, instead of the other way around.