Debbie Wilson's Family Brain Injury Blog

Volunteers needed for PTSD, depression studies - Baylor College of Medicine

2013-05-20T22:31:00.001-05:00

Volunteers needed for PTSD, depression studies - Baylor College of Medicine

Dog's friendship saves life of veteran with PTSD

2013-05-20T22:30:00.004-05:00

By YADIRA SANCHEZ OLSON - yolson@shawmedia.com

Created: Monday, May 20, 2013 4:55 p.m. CDT

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Lon Hodge gets a lot of attention when he goes to the movies, the coffee shops and out for walks with his best friend. Especially when his best friend licks his face.

Gander is Hodge's 2-year-old labrador and poodle mix service dog. He's trained to aid Hodge, 59, who has post traumatic stress disorder after serving in the Vietnam War.
Gander, a grayish, shaggy dog with expressive brown eyes and whiskers and a beard that hangs, was given to Hodge almost a year ago by the not for profit organization Freedom Service Dogs of America in Colorado.
The two are inseparable. The dog never takes his eyes off Hodge.
He's not just a loyal pet though. Hodge considers Gander a family member and he credits him for saving his life.
Since Hodge got Gander, he said his health has improved dramatically.
“I was having up to seven nightmares at night and up to five panic attacks a day that were sometimes 20 minutes long,” said Hodge of Vernon Hills. “It got to the point where I couldn't leave my home.”
Suddenly he couldn't do anything. He couldn't even get to his doctor's appointments, he said.
For two years, Hodge's doctors told him his heart rate was 30 to 40 beats higher than normal. Hodge said that was another reason why he couldn't sleep.
But that was then.
Now, thanks to Gander's support, Hodges said he's able to go into public places, such as the supermarket and busy coffee shops that were too risky to go into before because of the possibility of triggering an anxiety attack.
Today, Hodge's heart rate is normal.
“Within a week of getting Gander it dropped,'” Hodge said. I stopped taking medication, too.”
That medication was for autoimmune arthritis, which was aggravated by stress, he said.
Now that his stress has gone down, Hodge said he's a different person.
His wife, Xiaoli Xu, agreed.
“This dog brings out the parts of my husband that people love most. He is gentle, funny and very caring. His injuries don't get in the way because of Gander," Xu said.
Erin Leeper is director of Dog Operations for the Freedom Service Dogs of America. She said the dogs saved from shelters and then trained, provide the bond and the understanding vets with PTSD need.

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http://www.lakecountyjournal.com/2013/05/20/dogs-friendship-saves-life-of-veteran-with-ptsd/aozl3ye/

Researchers find far-reaching, microvascular damage in uninjured side of brain after stroke

2013-05-20T22:22:00.003-05:00

May 20, 2013 in Neuroscience While the effects of acute stroke have been widely studied, brain damage during the subacute phase of stroke has been a neglected area of research. Now, a new study by the University of South Florida reports that within a week of a stroke caused by a blood clot in one side of the brain, the opposite side of the brain shows signs of microvascular injury. Ads by Google AdWords Campaign Analyzer - Improve AdWords Campaign Results. Try It Now. You're Wasting Money! - wordstream.com/Adwords-Grader Hope For Stroke Patients - The Only Supplement That Support Neurological Functions! - www.NeuroAidStroke.com Stroke is a leading cause of death and disability in the United States, and increases the risk for dementia. "Approximately 80 percent of strokes are ischemic strokes, in which the blood supply to the brain is restricted, causing a shortage of oxygen," said study lead author Svitlana Garbuzova-Davis, PhD, associate professor in the USF Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair. "Minutes after ischemic stroke, there are serious effects within the brain at both the molecular and cellular levels. One understudied aspect has been the effect of ischemic stroke on the competence of the blood-brain barrier and subsequent related events in remote brain areas." Using a rat model, researchers at USF Health investigated the subacute phase of ischemic stroke and found deficits in the microvascular integrity in the brain hemisphere opposite to where the initial stroke injury occured. The study was published in the May 10, 2013 issue of PLOS One. The USF team found that "diachisis," a term used to describe certain brain deficits remote from primary insult, can occur during the subacute phase of ischemic stroke. The research discovered diachisis is closely related to a breakdown of the blood-brain barrier, which separates circulating blood from brain tissue. In the subacute phase of an ischemic stroke, when the stroke-induced disturbances in the brain occur in remote brain microvessels, several areas of the brain are affected by a variety of injuries, including neuronal swelling and diminished myelin in brain structures. The researchers suggest that recognizing the significance of microvascular damage could make the blood-brain barrier (BBB) a therapeutic "target" for future neuroprotective strategies for stroke patients. Ads by Google 7 Alzheimer's Triggers - These 7 Things Activate Alzheimer's in Your Brain. Read More. - www.newsmax.com Living With Cancer - View survivor stories & chat online w/ oncology information experts. - cancercenter.com The mechanisms of BBB permeability at different phases of stroke are poorly understood. While there have been investigations of BBB integrity and processes in ischemic stroke, the researchers said, most examinations have been limited to the phase immediately after stroke, known as acute stroke. Their interest was in determining microvascular integrity in the brain hemisphere opposite to an initial stroke injury at the subacute phase. Accordingly, this study using rats with surgically-simulated strokes was designed to investigate the effect of ischemic stroke on the BBB in the subacute phase, and the effects of a compromised BBB upon various brain regions, some distant from the stroke site. "The aim of this study was to characterize subacute diachisis in rats modeled with ischemic stroke," said co-author Cesar Borlongan, PhD, professor and vice chairman for research in the Department of Neurosurgery and Brain Repair and director of the USF Center for Aging and Brain Repair. "Our specific focus was on analyzing the condition of the BBB and the processes in the areas of the brain not directly affected by ischemia. BBB competence in subacute diachisis is uncertain and needed to be studied." Their findings suggest that damage to the BBB, and subsequent vascular leakage as the BBB becomes more permeable, plays a major role in subacute diachisis. The increasing BBB permeability hours after the simulated stroke, and finding that the BBB "remained open" seven days post-stroke, were significant findings, said Dr. Garbuzova-Davis, who is also a researcher in USF Center for Aging and Brain Repair. "Since increased BBB permeability is often associated with brain swelling, BBB leakage may be a serious and life-threatening complication of ischemic stroke." Another significant aspect was the finding that autophagy—a mechanism involving cell degradation of unnecessary or dysfunctional cellular components —plays a role in the subacute phase of ischemia. Study results showed that accumulation of numerous autophagosomes within endothelial cells in microvessels of both initially damaged and non-injured brain areas might be closely associated with BBB damage. Autophagy is a complex but normal process usually aimed at "self-removing" damaged cell components to promote cell survival. It was unclear, however, whether the role of autophagy in subacute post-ischemia was promoting cell survival or cell death. More than 30 percent of patients who survive strokes develop dementia within two years, the researchers noted. "Although dementia is complex, vascular damage in post-stroke patients is a significant risk factor, depending on the severity, volume and site of the stroke," said study co-author Dr. Paul Sanberg, USF senior vice president for research and innovation. "Ischemic stroke might initiate neurodegenerative dementia, particularly in the aging population." The researchers conclude that repair of the BBB following ischemic stroke could potentially prevent further degradation of surviving neurons. "Recognizing that the BBB is a therapeutic target is important for developing neuroprotective strategies," they said. Journal reference: PLoS ONE Provided by University of South Florida

Read more at: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-far-reaching-microvascular-uninjured-side-brain.html#jCp

Warrior Games 2013: Airman faces challenge at Games as TBI victim

2013-05-20T12:31:00.001-05:00

Warrior Games 2013: Airman faces challenge at Games as TBI victim

Yourwellness Magazine Explores the Impact of Sport on the Brain

2013-05-20T12:11:00.000-05:00

With the NIH recently reporting that traumatic brain injuries often occur from sporting activities, Yourwellness Magazine took a closer look at recent studies which have found that brain-trauma within adolescents, caused by competitive sports, can lead to a propensity to commit crime in later life.

Yourwellness, the gateway to living well

London, UK (PRWEB UK) 20 May 2013

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the brain is the command centre of the body, but a swift blow to the head or violent shaking can lead to a mild type of brain injury known as a concussion. The NIH reports that over one million mild traumatic brain injuries occur nationwide each year, more than half of which are experienced by children. These injuries can be caused by falls, car crashes or recreational activities like bike riding, skateboarding, skiing or even playing at the playground.

Dr. Beth Ansel, an expert on rehabilitation research at NIH, commented, “Although concussions are considered to be a mild brain injury, they need to be taken seriously. They should not be treated as minor injuries that quickly resolve.” She added that, with proper care, most people recover fully from a concussion, “but in some cases, a concussion can have a lasting effect on thinking, attention, learning and memory.” (http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/issue/may2013/feature1)

With this in mind, Yourwellness Magazine took a closer look at new studies and reports, which have found that brain-trauma within adolescents can lead to a propensity to commit crime in later life. Yourwellness Magazine noted that, as a result of these findings, some authorities have been led to offer greater guidance and advice on how today’s youth should avoid and treat head-injuries when taking part in very physical competitive and contact sports.

According to Yourwellness Magazine, “In America recently, a retired doctor highlighted the dangers of sports such as American-style football, in which the head is often used as a battering ram to knock down and disorientate opponents. The doctor estimated that a within one season, a football-player will experience over 900 hits and blows to the head of this nature – leading to at-least 25% of players suffering from concussion at some stage in the season. Alarmingly, many will deny their injuries, as they don’t want to be excluded from their team.” (http://www.yourwellness.com/2013/02/the-risks-of-suffering-head-injury-in-sports/)

To find out more, visit the gateway to living well at http://www.yourwellness.com.

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/5/prweb10726441.htm

Gazette Excerpt: Injured In War, Punished At Home

2013-05-20T12:09:00.001-05:00

By Dave Philipps

Credit Michael Ciaglo / The Gazette

Wounded Army veteran Kash Alvaro recovers in the emergency room at Memorial Hospital this winter after suffering a seizure and chest pains.

For wounded veterans with other-than-honorable discharges, the “unbreakable covenant” of government care is cut, leaving them helpless.

Disposable: Surge In Discharges Includes Wounded Soldiers

Kash Alvaro stared at the ceiling of an emergency room in January listening to the beep of an EKG monitor for what he guessed was the 80th time in 12 months. The once-healthy 24-year-old Afghanistan war veteran had collapsed in a hallway that night, then awakened confused in an ambulance and lurched up in alarm, swinging and yelling until the paramedics held him down and injected sedatives. Now he lay alone in a room at Memorial Hospital, quietly weeping.

Credit The Gazette

Alvaro joined the Army at age 18 in 2008. In Afghanistan in 2009, he was hit by multiple bomb blasts, including one that threw him across a road like a lawn dart. Sophisticated armor helped him escape with just bruises, but the blasts battered his brain. Ever since, he has been hit with fainting, heart spasms and seizures.

Alvaro is in many ways the typical modern disabled veteran. He survived combat with barely a scratch but later was diagnosed with what have become the most common wounds of a decade of war — traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, which together likely affect more than half a million veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

"I had given the Army everything, and they took everything away."

What happened when he came home is increasingly typical, too. At Fort Carson, the damaged soldier racked up punishments for being late to formation, missing appointments, getting in an argument and not showing up for work. These behaviors can be symptoms of TBI and PTSD, and Army doctors recommended Alvaro go to a special battalion for wounded warriors. Instead, his battalion put him in jail, then threw him out of the Army with an other-than-honorable discharge that stripped him of veterans benefits. He was sent packing without even the medicine to stop his convulsions.

“It was like my best friend betrayed me,” Alvaro said at the hospital, his speech as slow as cold oil. “I had given the Army everything, and they took everything away.”

After the longest period of war in American history, more soldiers are being discharged for misconduct than at any time in recent history, and soldiers with the most combat exposure are the hardest hit. A Gazette investigation based on data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act shows the annual number of misconduct discharges is up more than 25 percent Army-wide since 2009, mirroring the rise in wounded. At the eight Army posts that house most of the service’s combat units, including Fort Carson in Colorado Springs, discharges have surged 67 percent. All told, more than 76,000 soldiers have been kicked out of the Army since 2006. They end up in cities large and small across the country, in hospitals and homeless shelters, abandoned trailers and ratty apartments, working in gas fields and at the McDonald’s counter. The Army does not track how many, like Alvaro, were kicked out with combat wounds.

“I can tell you that 10-plus years of war has placed significant stress on many of our service members, sometimes manifesting itself in their health and even their discipline,” said Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. But he disagreed that the military is using minor misconduct to discharge veterans, saying, “We go to great lengths to try to rehabilitate those who don’t meet or maintain required standards prior to initiating separation.”

It doesn’t take serious misconduct to be discharged and lose a lifetime of benefits. The Gazette found troops cut loose for small offenses that the Army acknowledges can be symptoms of TBI and PTSD. Soldiers can miss formation a handful of times or smoke marijuana once. Some were discharged for showing up late or missing appointments. Some tested positive once for drugs, then were deployed to combat zones because the Army needed the troops, only to be discharged for the drug offense when they returned.

One two-tour infantry soldier was targeted for discharge after missing three doctor appointments because he had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital for being suicidal.

Continue reading Disposable: Surge In Discharges Includes Wounded Soldiers at the Colorado Springs Gazette

This excerpt is part of a special series by Dave Philipps and published by the Colorado Springs Gazette. It is republished here with permission.

http://www.kunc.org/post/gazette-excerpt-injured-war-punished-home

More than 85,000 veterans treated last year over alleged military sex abuse, report says

2013-05-20T12:03:00.000-05:00

Published May 20, 2013

Associated Press

FILE: 2005: A veteran displays his VA Card, one of the few items he keeps while homeless, in his shared room at a West Virginia shelter. (AP)

More than 85,000 veterans were treated last year for injuries or illness stemming from sexual abuse in the military, and 4,000 sought disability benefits, underscoring the staggering long-term impact of a crisis that has roiled the Pentagon and been condemned by President Barack Obama as ""shameful and disgraceful."

A Department of Veterans Affairs accounting released in response to inquiries from The Associated Press shows a heavy financial and emotional cost involving vets from Iraq, Afghanistan and even back to Vietnam, and lasting long after a victim leaves the service.

It took years for Ruth Moore of Milbridge, Maine, to begin getting treatment from a VA counseling center in 2003 -- 16 years after she was raped twice while she was stationed in Europe with the Navy. She continues to get counseling at least monthly for PTSD linked to the attacks and is also considered fully disabled.

"We can't cure me, but we can work on stability in my life and work on issues as they arrive," Moore said.

VA officials stress that any veteran who claims to have suffered military sexual trauma has access to free health care.

"It really is the case that a veteran can simply walk through the door, say they've had this experience, and we will get them hooked up with care. There's no documentation required. They don't need to have reported it at the time," said Dr. Margret Bell, a member of the VA's military sexual trauma team. "The emphasis is really on helping people get the treatment that they need."

However, the hurdles are steeper for those who seek disability compensation -- too steep for some veterans groups and lawmakers who support legislation designed to make it easier for veterans to get a monthly disability payment.

"Right now, the burden of proof is stacked against sexual trauma survivors," said Anu Bhagwati, executive director of the Service Women's Action Network. "Ninety percent of 26,000 cases last year weren't even reported. So where is that evidence supposed to come from?"

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has said reducing the incidence of sexual assaults in the military is a top priority. But it's a decades-old problem with no easy fix, as made even more apparent when an Air Force officer who headed a sexual assault prevention office was arrested on sexual battery charges.

"We will not stop until we've seen this scourge, from what is the greatest military in the world, eliminated," Obama said after summoning top Pentagon officials to the White House last week to talk about the problem. "Not only is it a crime, not only is it shameful and disgraceful, but it also is going to make and has made the military less effective than it can be."

The VA says 1 in 5 women and 1 in 100 men screen positive for military sexual trauma, which the VA defines as "any sexual activity where you are involved against your will." Some report that they were victims of rape, while others say they were groped or subjected to verbal abuse or other forms of sexual harassment.

But not all those veterans seek health care or disability benefits related to the attacks. The 85,000 who sought outpatient care linked to military sexual trauma during the latest fiscal year are among nearly 22 million veterans around the country.

The VA statistics underscore that the problems for victims of sexual abuse do not end when someone leaves the service.

Psychological issues, including PTSD, depression and anxiety, are most common, according to the agency. Victims also can develop substance abuse problems.

Some victims like Moore are so disabled that they are unable to work. Others need ongoing care at VA outpatient clinics and hospitals.

In the final six months of 2011, an average of 248 veterans per month filed for disability benefits related to sexual trauma. That rose by about a third, to 334 veterans per month in 2012, an increase the VA attributed in part to better screening for the ongoing trauma associated with sexual assault. Of those who filed in 2012, about two-thirds were women and nearly a third were men.

"We do a lot more awareness, and as we educate everyone on the potential benefits and that it's OK to come forward, I think you see an increase in reporting," said Edna MacDonald, director of the VA's regional office in Nashville.

To get disability benefits related to sexual trauma, veterans must be diagnosed with a health problem such as PTSD, submit proof that they were assaulted or sexually harassed in a threatening manner and have a VA examiner confirm a link to their health condition.

Many lawmakers and veterans groups support allowing a veteran's statement alone to serve as the proof that an assault or harassment occurred. An examiner would still have to find there's a link to the health condition diagnosed.

The VA's records indicate that veterans seeking compensation related to military sexual trauma had about a 1 in 2 chance of getting their claim approved last year, up from about 34 percent in June 2011.

The VA does not break out the cost of treating and compensating individual veterans for sexual abuse or trauma. A veterans combination of disabilities are unique to each individual, so it's not able to attribute specific spending levels for individual disabilities.

Benefits depend on the severity of the disability. For example, a veteran with a 50 percent rating and no dependents would get $810 a month. A veteran with a 100 percent rating and a spouse and child to support would get nearly $3,088 a month.

Moore estimates the government's cost for her disability benefits and treatment could well exceed $500,000 over the course of her lifetime.

It wasn't until June 2011 that the VA began recording monthly disability claims related specifically to military sexual trauma. Veterans file claims for conditions that are a result of the trauma, not for MST itself, which made it particularly difficult to track. The VA came up with a special process for doing so in 2010.

There's no time limit to filing a claim. "We have veterans who call our help line who have been assaulted way back in time. They're still suffering from the effects of World War II or Vietnam. I wish I were exaggerating," said Bhagwati, whose organization advocates for female veterans.

The VA's undersecretary for benefits, Allison Hickey, a 27-year veteran and former Air Force general, has required all workers handling disability claims to undergo sensitivity training in dealing with military sexual trauma.

Hickey also assembled a task force to review the claims process for veterans claiming sexual assault or harassment while serving in the military. The group looked at 400 claims and determined that nearly a quarter were denied before all the evidence was presented. That led to another training program on the evidence needed or establishing a PTSD claim connected to military sexual trauma. The approval rate is now much closer, though still slightly behind that for other PTSD claims.

Even though the VA's statistics indicate that a greater percentage of military sexual trauma are getting benefits, lawmakers believe more action is required.

"If half of them are being denied their claims, that's still a lot of people, said Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine.

Pingree and Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., are the lead sponsors of the legislation that would allow the veteran's word to serve as sufficient proof that an assault occurred. The legislation is named after Moore, who spent years fighting for disability benefits.

The VA originally opposed Pingree's bill, saying the legislation didn't allow for the minimal evidence "needed to maintain the integrity of the claims process." But VA spokesman Josh Taylor said Thursday that there's been a change of heart and that the VA no longer opposes the legislation.

"VA supports the goals of the legislation, and will continue to work with Congress on the best approach to accomplish it," Taylor said.

An amended version of Pingree's bill passed the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs two weeks ago and could go to the full House as early as this week. The bill no longer requires the department to alter its regulations for military sexual trauma claims. Instead, the bill says that it's Congress' sense that the VA should update and improve its regulations regarding military sexual trauma. And until it does, it must meet extensive reporting requirements, which include a monthly report to all veterans who have submitted a claim that would, among other things, detail the number of claims relating to MST that were granted or denied, the three most common reasons for a denial and the average time it took to process a claim.

Supporters are hoping that the reporting requirements prove so cumbersome that the VA agrees to ease the evidentiary burden for the veterans.

AP IMPACT: Thousands of military sex abuse victims seek VA health care, disability benefits

2013-05-20T10:03:00.004-05:00

KEVIN FREKINGAssociated Press

8:28 a.m. EDT, May 20, 2013

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than 85,000 veterans were treated last year for injuries or illness stemming from sexual abuse in the military, and 4,000 sought disability benefits, underscoring the staggering long-term impact of a crisis that has roiled the Pentagon and been condemned by President Barack Obamaas "''shameful and disgraceful."

A Department of Veterans Affairs accounting released in response to inquiries from The Associated Press shows a heavy financial and emotional cost involving vets from Iraq, Afghanistan and even back to Vietnam, and lasting long after a victim leaves the service.

See more topics »

Sexual assault or repeated sexual harassment can trigger a variety of health problems, primarily post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. While women are more likely to be victims, men made up nearly 40 percent of the patients theVA treated last year for conditions connected to what it calls "military sexual trauma."

It took years for Ruth Moore of Milbridge, Maine, to begin getting treatment from a VA counseling center in 2003 — 16 years after she was raped twice while she was stationed in Europe with the Navy. She continues to get counseling at least monthly for PTSD linked to the attacks and is also considered fully disabled.

"We can't cure me, but we can work on stability in my life and work on issues as they arrive," Moore said.

VA officials stress that any veteran who claims to have suffered military sexual trauma has access to free health care.

"It really is the case that a veteran can simply walk through the door, say they've had this experience, and we will get them hooked up with care. There's no documentation required. They don't need to have reported it at the time," said Dr. Margret Bell, a member of the VA's military sexual trauma team. "The emphasis is really on helping people get the treatment that they need."

However, the hurdles are steeper for those who seek disability compensation — too steep for some veterans groups and lawmakers who support legislation designed to make it easier for veterans to get a monthly disability payment.

"Right now, the burden of proof is stacked against sexual trauma survivors," said Anu Bhagwati, executive director of the Service Women's Action Network. "Ninety percent of 26,000 cases last year weren't even reported. So where is that evidence supposed to come from?"

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has said reducing the incidence of sexual assaults in the military is a top priority. But it's a decades-old problem with no easy fix, as made even more apparent when an Air Force officer who headed a sexual assault prevention office was arrested on sexual battery charges.

"We will not stop until we've seen this scourge, from what is the greatest military in the world, eliminated," Obama said after summoning top Pentagon officials to the White House last week to talk about the problem. "Not only is it a crime, not only is it shameful and disgraceful, but it also is going to make and has made the military less effective than it can be."

The VA says 1 in 5 women and 1 in 100 men screen positive for military sexual trauma, which the VA defines as "any sexual activity where you are involved against your will." Some report that they were victims of rape, while others say they were groped or subjected to verbal abuse or other forms of sexual harassment.

But not all those veterans seek health care or disability benefits related to the attacks. The 85,000 who sought outpatient care linked to military sexual trauma during the latest fiscal year are among nearly 22 million veterans around the country.

The VA statistics underscore that the problems for victims of sexual abuse do not end when someone leaves the service.

Psychological issues, including PTSD, depression and anxiety, are most common, according to the agency. Victims also can develop substance abuse problems.

Some victims like Moore are so disabled that they are unable to work. Others need ongoing care at VA outpatient clinics and hospitals.

In the final six months of 2011, an average of 248 veterans per month filed for disability benefits related to sexual trauma. That rose by about a third, to 334 veterans per month in 2012, an increase the VA attributed in part to better screening for the ongoing trauma associated with sexual assault. Of those who filed in 2012, about two-thirds were women and nearly a third were men.

"We do a lot more awareness, and as we educate everyone on the potential benefits and that it's OK to come forward, I think you see an increase in reporting," said Edna MacDonald, director of the VA's regional office in Nashville.

To get disability benefits related to sexual trauma, veterans must be diagnosed with a health problem such as PTSD, submit proof that they were assaulted or sexually harassed in a threatening manner and have a VA examiner confirm a link to their health condition.

http://www.dailyamerican.com/news/sns-bc-us--veterans-military-sexual-trauma-20130519,0,2715767.story

'Other Than Honorable': More Army misconduct discharges | WashingtonExaminer.com

2013-05-19T15:54:00.001-05:00

'Other Than Honorable': More Army misconduct discharges | WashingtonExaminer.com

Chronic trauma can inflict lasting damage to brain

2013-05-19T15:52:00.004-05:00

Washington, Sun, 19 May 2013ANI

Washington, May 19 (ANI): Researchers at NYU School of Medicine have shown that the effects of trauma persist in certain brain regions even when veterans of combat are not engaged in cognitive or emotional tasks, and face no immediate external threats.

The results shed light on which areas of the brain provoke traumatic symptoms and represent a critical step toward better diagnostics and treatments for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

A chronic condition that develops after trauma, PTSD can plague victims with disturbing memories, flashbacks, nightmares and emotional instability.

The study, led by Xiaodan Yan, a research fellow at NYU School of Medicine, examined "spontaneous" or "resting" brain activity in 104 veterans of combat from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars using functional MRI, which measures blood-oxygen levels in the brain.

The researchers found that spontaneous brain activity in the amygdala, a key structure in the brain's "fear circuitry" that processes fearful and anxious emotions, was significantly higher in the 52 combat veterans with PTSD than in the 52 combat veterans without PTSD.

The PTSD group also showed elevated brain activity in the anterior insula, a brain region that regulates sensitivity to pain and negative emotions.

Moreover, the PTSD group had lower activity in the precuneus, a structure tucked between the brain's two hemispheres that helps integrate information from the past and future, especially when the mind is wandering or disengaged from active thought. Decreased activity in the precuneus correlates with more severe "re-experiencing" symptoms-that is, when victims re-experience trauma over and over again through flashbacks, nightmares and frightening thoughts.

The result of the study has been published in Neuroscience Letters. (ANI)

http://www.newstrackindia.com/newsdetails/2013/05/19/116-Chronic-trauma-can-inflict-lasting-damage-to-brain-.html

Unit focuses on neurology care for babies at risk of brain injury

2013-05-19T14:05:00.002-05:00

7 hours 4 minutes ago

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BY ERIN DIGITALE - Protecting the brain health of premature and dangerously ill newborns is the focus of an ambitious new effort at Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. On April 23, the hospital launched the Neuro NICU, which provides specialized neurology care for babies at risk of brain injury.

Courtesy of the Thomas family

Jackson Thomas, who was oxygen deprived at birth, underwent controlled hypothermia at Packard Children's to help him. Diana Powell is a nurse in the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit.

The Neuro NICU, consisting of six beds inside the Packard Children's neonatal intensive care unit, is one of just a small handful of such units around the country. These units represent advances in treatments and technologies that allow physicians not only to keep fragile babies alive, but reduce their risk of suffering neurological problems.

"Survival rates of critically ill premature and term babies are now quite robust, but we are realizing that some of these surviving babies have developmental problems," said Packard Children's neonatologist Krisa Van Meurs, MD, medical director of the Neuro NICU. Fortunately, Van Meurs added, new neurologic research has provided a diverse set of tools for improving vulnerable infants' developmental outcomes and giving them the best chance at starting strong in life.

Several conditions can leave infants susceptible to brain injury or developmental deficits, including premature birth, early-life infections, birth defects such as congenital heart defects, and oxygen deprivation during labor and delivery. These patients have the greatest need for the Neuro NICU team's expertise.

"The challenge and exciting thing about treating these tiny babies is that the brain is developing on a literally day-by-day basis," said Courtney Wusthoff, MD, a neonatal neurologist at Packard Children's. Wusthoff arrived at the hospital in September 2012 to help launch the Neuro NICU.

Courtesy of the Thomas family

In addition to bringing Wusthoff on board, the hospital has purchased a wide array of new diagnostic and monitoring equipment for babies' brains, and is providing specialized training for all its NICU practitioners on the latest research and treatments in infant neurology. The options for protecting and nurturing babies' quickly changing brains are expanding rapidly, Wusthoff said. "We have more and more opportunities for interventions."

Jackson, shown here at age 13 months, has been doing well since leaving Packard Children's.

In early 2012, the Thomas family of San Jose benefited from several such interventions after their younger son's unexpectedly difficult birth at a hospital in San Jose. When she arrived in labor, Heather Thomas was found to have suffered a placental abruption. The baby was not getting any oxygen and needed to be delivered immediately. Upon delivery, baby Jackson did not breathe. He had a seizure within one minute of birth.

After Jackson was resuscitated, a physician asked Heather and husband Gary to consider immediately transferring their son to Packard Children's to receive controlled hypothermia, a recently developed treatment for preventing brain injury after oxygen deprivation. In this procedure, the infant is placed on a blanket impregnated with tubes that carry cool water. The baby's body is cooled to 92.3 degrees Fahrenheit for three days. Research conducted at Packard Children's and elsewhere has shown that, if begun within six hours of birth, cooling slows damaging metabolic processes and gives the brain time to heal.

"Until relatively recently, we could only provide supportive care for full-term babies who suffered brain injury in the labor process," Van Meurs said. "About 25 percent of neonatal mortality is due to birth asphyxia, so controlled hypothermia has the potential to have a big impact." Packard Children's participated in one of the earliest clinical trials of hypothermia and has offered it since 2000, she noted.

After Jackson's body temperature was returned to normal, he received a magnetic resonance imaging scan to check for signs of brain damage. Use of MRIs for newborns' brains is also innovative; it provides a non-invasive way to find brain injuries.

"There were no signs of brain damage," Heather remembered. "We burst into tears."
During Jackson's hospital stay, the Packard Children's team also monitored his brain with a modified electroencephalogram technique tailored to infants. Brain monitoring technologies allow caregivers to check a baby's brain-oxygen levels and detect seizures.

"In the past, it's been assumed that you could just tell by looking if a newborn was having a seizure," Wusthoff said. But it turns out that 80 to 90 percent of seizures in this age group cause no outward changes. "Newborns' brains are not developed enough to show on the outside what's happening on the inside."

Fortunately, Jackson had no more seizures. He has been doing well ever since he left the hospital at 2 weeks of age. Now 15 months old, he loves to play with his big brother, totes his favorite toy shark everywhere, and, best of all, has no sign of developmental problems.

In addition to the techniques that helped Jackson Thomas, patients in Packard Children's Neuro NICU will also benefit from multidisciplinary care by clinicians from neonatology, neurology, neurosurgery, developmental medicine, neuroradiology and psychiatry. And patients' families will receive services, such as consultations with social workers, to assist with parents' practical concerns during their baby's hospitalization.

New research is on the horizon, too. For premature infants, physicians are working to understand how to make brain development in the NICU more closely mimic development in the womb. Another nascent treatment, erythropoietin, protects babies' brains by helping their bodies make more oxygen-carrying red blood cells.

However, perhaps the biggest benefit of the six Neuro NICU beds will be that all of Packard Children's NICU caregivers are receiving more training and experience in caring for infants' brains. "We're heightening awareness of babies' neurologic needs for everybody and giving them the best chance possible to start life strong," Wusthoff said. "And the best part is knowing that the impact can be so huge: We're enabling a lifetime of better outcomes for infants and their families."

Stanford University Medical Center integrates research, medical education and patient care at its three institutions -Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital. For more information, please visit the Office of Communication & Public Affairs site at http://mednews.stanford.edu/.

http://www.healthcanal.com/brain-nerves/38790-unit-focuses-on-neurology-care-for-babies-at-risk-of-brain-injury.html

Panelists: PTSD Can't Be Cured, Only Managed | Military.com

2013-05-19T14:03:00.001-05:00

Panelists: PTSD Can't Be Cured, Only Managed | Military.com

Veteran's family aims to help others with PTSD

2013-05-19T14:00:00.001-05:00

Regular Photo Size

Posted: 05/18/2013
Last Updated: 23 hours ago

FRANKLIN, Ind. -

The sight of an old van parked on the street sent the soldier's mind back to Iraq.

Tyler Armacost darted off the front porch of his parents' house and into the street because he thought he saw an Iraqi insurgent in the van. His mother tried to shake him and tell him no one was there, but he looked right through her as if she weren't there.

Scott and Karen Armacost searched for their son after he ran off into their Franklin neighborhood but couldn't find him. Later that night, they found him curled up in a ball and sleeping behind the shed in their backyard.

The memory brings Karen Armacost to tears. She knew he was struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder following the war but never saw him behave that way before, she told the Daily Journal.

After serving 16 months in Iraq, killing insurgents and seeing fellow soldiers die, the high school athlete who wasn't afraid to hug his parents and tell them he loved them was gone. When he came home from war, he had a hard time even looking them in the eye.

Tyler Armacost wouldn't sit with his back to a door, always on the watch for the enemy. Some nights he would wake his parents after having graphic nightmares. The medications for his back and knees, which he injured in combat, and the anxiety and fear he felt every day sometimes made him groggy and sluggish.

And when Tyler Armacost was killed in a car accident in March, his parents know that the stress of his military past and the medication he was taking to help him try to cope likely were factors in the fatal wreck.

The hardest part about losing their son at age 27 was that he seemed like he was finally starting to recover, Scott Armacost said. After more than four years of dealing with memories of war, financial hardship at home and struggling to readjust, the Tyler Armacost from before was re-emerging.

"We had lost him, and he was coming back. And that's what hurts the most," Scott Armacost said.

When Tyler Armacost graduated from Edinburgh Community High School in 2004, he told his parents he wanted to enlist in the U.S. Army.

The notion came as a shock. Scott Armacost, a professor at Franklin College, assumed his son would be headed to college.

"He just wanted to protect everybody and felt that was his best way. Of course, our first thoughts were he was going to be in a line of duty or line of fire," Scott Armacost said.

Karen Armacost's cousin was killed in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and Scott's father served in the Korean War. To Tyler Armacost, both of those were a call to arms as if the family had a long and proud military history, Scott Armacost said.

His parents tried to talk him out of joining the military. But by May 2005, Tyler Armacost felt he had to do something to protect his family and his country. He signed the enlistment papers with the U.S. Army without telling his parents and broke the news to them that he was heading to basic training.

By July 2006, he was being deployed to Iraq as part of the 82nd Airborne Division to jump out of airplanes and helicopters and fight insurgents.

Scott and Karen Armacost stayed glued to CNN to watch every update about the fighting in Iraq, wondering if their son was safe. He sent letters home often, but within the first year they could see his personality changing.

"I could tell he was getting more militarized and less family, less sweet, less compassionate. The letters got more straightforward. There was still `love' and `miss you' and everything else, but they were more matter-of-fact and, `Here's what we're doing,"' Scott Armacost said.

Tyler Armacost was able to fly home at the end of his first tour of duty in Iraq in December 2006 for what was supposed to be a six-month break. He was with his parents for a day before getting a phone call that he was being sent back to Iraq in 48 hours.

He fought a second tour in Iraq from January to November 2007 before returning to the U.S. He was discharged and came home to Franklin in September 2008.

"When he got home it was dead-evident. When he was home, he couldn't face you in the eye and couldn't hug you and couldn't say `I love you,"' Scott Armacost said.

Thirteen of his fellow soldiers were killed over the 16 months in action.

Tyler Armacost couldn't deal with the guilt that he lived and came home, when they didn't, his father said.

At 19, Tyler Armacost watched a friend sacrifice his life to save his own. He was the first of the 13 to lose his life in combat.

Armacost's unit was fighting insurgents south of Baghdad when the enemy got around to their side of their position to get a clear shot at him and another soldier. His friend in the unit, T.J. Barbieri, saw the Iraqis pop up and moved to cover the other soldiers.

Barbieri was shot several times and killed. It was then that the war became real for Tyler, his mother said.

"He always said, `Mom, I was 19 and I started getting shot at. So I could either lay down and act like a sissy or I could stand up and fight back.' And that's when

he said he really became a man," Karen Armacost said.

By the time he came home, his doctors said the bones in his back were grinding against each other and in the condition of a 70-year-old man, his mother said. He injured the ligaments in both his knees from the strain of jumping out of helicopters and carrying heavy gear and pushing his body too far to qualify to become a part of the Army's Special Forces.

Tyler Armacost killed seven insurgents while serving in Iraq, his father said. He jumped from airplanes and helicopters, fired shots and was fired upon frequently. He took part in interrogations of enemy soldiers, which he refused to talk about with his parents.

The deaths, the combat with enemy fighters and the interrogations he described as gruesome caused him to have post-traumatic stress, his doctors told his parents. He wasn't able to come to terms with the things he had done, Scott Armacost said.

"One of the worst things that I think hurt him the most was the way he was brought up morally and ethically and what he had to do in the war to survive and to interrogate his enemies," Scott Armacost said. "I think that was too much of a nightmare for him."

When he returned to Franklin, Tyler Armacost struggled to adjust back to civilian life, but financial and personal stress and physical pain only added to the trauma from war.

He started attending Franklin College but had a hard time focusing in class. He told his dad he understood how the students could be so wide-eyed and carefree but seeing it every day bothered him.

"It was hard for him to just relate and understand why the students just thought everything was OK and hunky-dory and there's no problems in the world to them," Scott Armacost said.

Tyler Armacost got a job at a warehouse in Indianapolis, but the heavy lifting and moving added to his back and knee pain. He worked as a recruiter for the Indiana National Guard for a short time, but his nightmares and anxiety became worse and he had to quit, his mother said.

He couldn't work and wound up in debt. What little money he had coming in went toward bills, which were growing faster than he could pay. While in Iraq, he wrote home often about getting a new pickup truck. But when he came home, he could never afford it. He was in debt $12,000 but refused to file bankruptcy, which ate at him every day, his father said.

He began applying for disability benefits about two and a half years after he returned home. But he hadn't gotten approval for the benefits by the time he died in the car accident this year.

"That wasn't an Armacost thing not to pay your bills. He was embarrassed that he owed that much money," his father said.

And he was taking eight different pills each day, including strong painkillers such as hydrocodone and oxycodone and anti-anxiety pills such as Xanax. If he could take up to three pills for his back pain, he was taking the maximum most days, Scott Armacost said. Some days the medicines put Tyler Armacost in such a haze it was like they completely erased his personality, Scott Armacost said.

"They just start throwing all the meds at you. Let's just give you medicine for this and medicine for that and they just become zombies," he said.

Tyler Armacost and his girlfriend -- his parents call her his soul mate -- broke off an engagement and separated.

"He thought that God was punishing him for what he did in the war," his father said.

The pain from his back and knees, the memories of war, the medication, the money problems and his relationship struggles were all adding up and breaking him down every day, Scott Armacost said.

But during the last six months, his parents were starting to see a change. Tyler Armacost devoted himself to movies and TV, and the escape from the real world was helping him improve.

He would spend several hours each day in front of the TV. Occasionally he would watch shows about the military but preferred films with emotions and strong bonds between people, movies like "Harry Potter" or "Twilight." His father thinks seeing the conflicts the characters went through and overcame was helping Tyler get perspective on his own life.

"I really started to think that he put everybody that he knew into a character in a movie or of a show or a series and that was them. That was his world, he was starting to go into a world where he could write the scripts," his father said.

Scott Armacost decided he needed to devote more of his time to helping his son. He made plans to retire from Franklin College at the end of this year and would spend the time he wasn't working in the living room, watching TV with Tyler.

The movies, the time father and son spent together and the time that had passed since the war were making a difference, Scott Armacost said.

"Every time I left, he would grab my hand and say `Bye Dad. Love you Dad.' Then he started hugging me when I'd see him at night, things were starting to change. And he goes `I understand now. I did a lot in the war, but I do need to

go and try to get these things fixed,"' he said.

Scott and Tyler Armacost were planning a trip to California this summer to a clinic specializing in helping patients with post-traumatic stress disorder. And the two were making progress gathering the necessary medical records and filing the right forms for Tyler's disability claim.

In March, Tyler decided to take a trip to visit friends in North Carolina and clear his head, Karen Armacost said. He told his parents he would be gone for a few weeks but called and said he was coming back after two days because he was homesick, his mother said. He told his father to have two movies ready when he got back.

Tyler never made it home.

On March 25, his sport utility vehicle crossed into oncoming traffic on Interstate 75 near the Kentucky-Tennessee border. His vehicle was hit by two semitrailer trucks, he was thrown out of the vehicle and killed.

Snow was falling on the highway when the accident happened. His parents think he may have taken his prescribed painkillers or anti-anxiety medication while driving but haven't received test results from the autopsy. He was probably tired, since he was used to running on little sleep from his days in the Army. Maybe he was texting or otherwise not paying attention, they said, but they don't know for sure.

Tyler Armacost was a few weeks away from getting approval for his disability benefits, which would have helped him pay his bills, Scott Armacost said. His personality was returning. He was planning to have surgeries on his back and knees to try to relieve his pain.

Losing Tyler when his life looked like it was improving rapidly made it even harder, Scott Armacost said. They had become best friends over the last six months.

After years of feeling powerless to help his son live with post-traumatic stress disorder, Scott Armacost wants to now find ways to help other veterans returning from war. He'd like to get involved with the Wounded Warriors project or find ways to get involved with groups that help with post-traumatic stress disorder. He'd also like to research ways to help veterans apply for benefits, since he and his son were having a difficult time finding the right records and filling out the right paperwork.

Tyler Armacost wasn't the first to struggle so badly after coming home from war and won't be the last. But his family hopes they can save another family the pain and helplessness they felt.

"We realize there are another 150,000 Tylers out there," Scott Armacost said.

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/local-news/veterans-family-aims-to-help-others-with-ptsd

PET shows PTSD-receptor connection

2013-05-19T13:47:00.002-05:00

May 14, 2013

Aunt Minnie

Using PET imaging, researchers at NYU Langone Medical Center have found a connection between the quantity of cannabinoid receptors, known as CB1 receptors, in the brain and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), according to a study published online May 14 in Molecular Psychiatry.

The study divided 60 participants into three groups: those with PTSD, those with a history of trauma but no PTSD, and those with no history of trauma or PTSD. Individuals in all three groups received a radioactive tracer that illuminates CB1 receptors when exposed to PET scans.

Results showed that subjects with PTSD, especially women, had more CB1 receptors in brain regions associated with fear and anxiety than volunteers without PTSD. The PTSD group also had lower levels of the neurotransmitter anandamide. If anandamide levels are too low, the brain compensates by increasing the number of CB1 receptors.

http://www.snm.org/index.cfm?PageID=12632

Understanding the Journey

2013-05-19T05:07:00.004-05:00

I now understand the reason for patience
I now understand the reason for perseverance
I now understand the imperativeness of hope
I now understand the importance of encouragement
I now understand the importance of family beyond family
I now understand the true beauty I was meant to see in life
I now understand the true meaning of friendship and unity
I now understand the true meaning of many kinds of love
I now understand the true meaning of supportive family
I now understand the true meaning of peace from within
I now understand the true meaning of earned pride
I now understand this brain injury journey gave me wisdom
I now understand this brain injury gave me knowledge
I now understand hurting people and all the pain of others
I now understand that I never had control over much at all
I understand a power greater than me had a more meaningful plan
I understand a power greater than me had a better goal and dream
I understand it was a rough, harsh and painful journey worth it all!

Debbie M. Wilson
5/19/2013

At Hampton VA, caring for sexual assault victims is ongoing battle

2013-05-19T04:07:00.000-05:00

By Hugh Lessig, hlessig@dailypress.com | 757-247-7821

May 19, 2013

HAMPTON—

— Over two weeks, the Pentagon has suffered a string of embarrassments in its effort to show progress in curbing sexual assault within the ranks.

A Defense Department anonymous survey estimated a 35 percent increase in sexual assault and related offenses in the military over two years. Meanwhile, three officers who directed or managed sexual assault prevention programs have been caught up in investigations that range from groping a woman in a parking lot, to pimping, to violating a protection from abuse order.

Members of Congress have called for legislation, and PresidentObama characterized the problem as a "scourge" after summoning military leaders to the Oval Office.

But in Hampton Roads, where thousands of active-duty troops and veterans live, the problem is nothing new.

Since October, the Hampton VA Medical Center has seen 400 people who say they suffer from military sexual trauma, or MST, a catch-all term that includes sexual assault, unwanted touching, sexual coercion or harassment.

Those veterans have required some 2,300 appointments.

Psychologist Stephanie Eppinger, who coordinates the program, said the MST patients represent about 25 percent of the women and about 1 percent of the men who seek care at the center. That tracks the national average.

The group cuts across all ages, indicative of how difficult it can be for victims to come forward and seek help.

"We see people in their fifties and sixties, and this is the first time they are coming in for treatment," she said.

Military sexual trauma can lead to post traumatic stress disorder, depression, alcohol or drug abuse and problems with relationships or one's own sexuality, Eppinger said. And while it may be difficult to come forward, the Hampton VA makes it relatively easy. When patients first enter the system, they are asked if they suffer from military sexual trauma. If they say yes and want to be treated, they will be, Eppinger said. There is no verification process, nothing that they have to prove.

An important distinction: Receiving disability compensation for MST-related problems does require proof and verification, and can take quite some time. That's the Veterans Benefits Administration. The hospital falls under the Veterans Health Administration, and its rules are different.

"To get treatment, you just have to raise your hand," she said.

Even that can be easier said than done.

"It can be highly sensitive for people to talk about," said Dr. Priscilla Hankins, chief of mental health. "Sometimes, the first time they come forward with details is when they are in a setting where they feel safe. Sometimes, you don't even get the whole story for months and months, as the trust builds."

U.S. military leaders say they are striving to change the culture in the uniformed services. Many times, victims say they are reluctant to press their cases out of fear of retribution, or because so few cases result in jail time.

Eppinger was asked whether the culture in the military has changed.

"Not so much, not that I've heard," she said. "I think it's still an extremely touchy situation. The reports in the media about the need to change the culture ... there is a need to change the culture."

No accountability?

Sherry Kurtz joined the Army out of high school and planned to make it a career. That changed one night in 1984 while she was stationed in Germany.

While looking for her boyfriend, she ran into a group of male soldiers who offered her a drink. The next thing she knew, she woke up on a bed with men holding her down, and she was assaulted.

Military Sexual Trauma: 26,000 Victims and 26,000 Perverts

2013-05-19T04:04:00.002-05:00

May-18-2013 17:43

Dr. Phillip Leveque Professor of Pharmacology Salem-News.com

MST (Military Sexual Trauma) causes the worst PTSD.

Courtesy: Veterans Today

(PORTLAND, OR) - I don't know what else to call them, we do have pedophiles and they certainly are perverts assaulting helpless children. There has got to be a name for ranking sergeants and officers who take advantage of their positions of authority to assault personnel supposedly under their care.

According to whatever history is available, military sexual assaults (MSA) on women have been going on a long time both as "spoils of war" but also sergeants and officers assaulting lower ranks of their own military. Ive read these perverts go right up to admirals and generals.

In WWII, my war, the Red Cross girls called "Donut Dollies," nurses and other female personnel were "available to higher ranks". It was cynical thinking by the millions of privates but nevertheless true. Even Audie Murphy, as an enlisted man (?) had a nurse girlfriend. They weren't allowed to marry, unfortunately, she was killed in an artillery barrage in her hospital in Italy.

The statement that, "officers have their privileges" is a sorry excuse for what is happening right up to this day. My first article about this was, "Military Rape: SOP" October 16 2008, "Women Veterans Suicides" was written December 4, 2010, Military Rape" May 16 2011, and "Military Rape Back in the Headlines" June 15 2012. It also appears that the military, mostly Army and Marines, knew all about these assaults and vigorously, vengefully defended their perverts against the medically diagnosed rape victims.

We must take these violent perverted assaulters away from the cruel protection of the military trials, at least convicted rapists should do hard time behind bars. This includes generals and admirals. The same should occur at West Point, Annapolis and the Air Force Academy. We can't afford to have these perverts in the military or as civilians.

Hagel and Panetta, you know what's going on. You have the authority to do something positive.

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/may182013/sexual-trauma-pl.php

Grace Byrne graduates with class despite brain injury

2013-05-19T04:00:00.001-05:00

By ALLIE JACKSONupdated Saturday, May 18, 2013 - 10:24pm

Not only did Grace Byrne survive a traumatic brain injury after being struck by a Jeep on Milledge Avenue in January, she beat the odds and graduated from Clarke Central High School on Saturday with honors.

Grace, 18, said following the ceremony that walking with her class felt like the normal thing to do, but she appreciates the way many rallied around her during her ordeal.

“Thank you all for praying for me,” she said.

A huge crowd filled Stegman Coliseum at 3 p.m. to support the 2013 class of Clarke Central High School. A handful of those were there specifically to see Grace.

Grace’s former running coach, Dale Autry, was one of them.

“I’m going from graduation to graduation,” he said. “And this (watching Grace graduate) is the highlight of the day for me.”

Grace’s Parents, Chris and Mary Byrne, were also elated to see their daughter receive her diploma.

“I want to say that God is good,” said Mary Byrne. “And Clarke Central wrapped Grace and Marina (Grace’s sister) up ... and they (helped) make it possible for Grace to graduate.

"She had to have her last mandatory class, and even with all her advanced classes, she still had to get that class finished and (the school) just worked together with her ... to make that happen.”

Mary and Chris Byrne said the teachers and staff at Clarke Central played a significant role in Grace graduating on time.

“The goodwill of the staff at Clarke Central can never be understated,” Mary Byrne said. “And then, of course, it ripples and it’s the people of Athens and then the people of Georgia.”

Mary said the staff at the Shepherd Center, where Grace continues her recovery, also attended the graduation.

“(Grace’s) team from Shepherd were here (at graduation). Her physician was here and her speech therapist and her case manager,” she said. “They came all the way from Atlanta. This is the kind of support I’m talking about.”

Grace’s father said it’s been a long road to get to where Grace is today and that she still has long road ahead. “Just over four months ago we didn’t even know if she would survive the traumatic brain injury,” he said in an email to the Athens Banner Herald. “And now she is walking with her classmates as an honor graduate (sixth in her class).”

Grace was named the Clarke County School District Female Winner of the Lewis Memorial Scholarship and a Georgia Scholar.

Chris said his daughter walking with the rest of her class, and as an honor student, is nothing short of miraculous.

“She still has a ways to go in her recovery,” he said. “But being able to graduate with her class would not have happened without the outstanding support of Principal Dr. Robbie Hooker and all of the staff at Clarke Central High School, as well as the Clarke County school system.”

Grace was discharged just a month ago from the Shepherd Center’s Brain Injury Program in Atlanta. She continues her recovery, but is slated to complete it next month.

Grace sustained her injury after Joseph Potash, 22, of Athens, hit her with his Jeep Cherokee on Jan. 11 as she jogged across Milledge Avenue with a friend.

Her friend received minor injuries and was treated and released from Athens Regional Medical Center on the day of the incident.

Potash appeared in Athens-Clarke County Municipal Court on April 10, where he pleaded no contest to a charge of driving with a suspended license and pleaded guilty to driving too fast for conditions and to a turn lane violation, said a court official.

He was sentenced to two years of probation, ordered to perform 160 hours of community service and to pay more than $2,200 in restitution fees.

Grace was admitted to ARMC following the accident, and after three weeks in the intensive care unit, then admitted to the Shepherd Center for continued treatment and rehabilitation.

A fund has been established to help offset medical expenses and to support others with brain injuries. Donations can be sent to the Grace Devaux Byrne Medical Fund in care of Athens First Bank & Trust, 150 W. Hancock Ave., Athens, GA 30603.

• Follow breaking news reporter Allie Jackson atwww.facebook.com/AllieJacksonABH or www.twitter.com/Allie_ABH.

http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2013-05-18/grace-byrne-graduates-class-despite-brain-injury

America's wounded warriors deserve better

2013-05-19T03:57:00.002-05:00

by name Newspaper - • Published: May 19, 2013 | 12:00 am •

Americans are a deeply divided people on many things these days. But there is one issue on which virtually all agree, and that is the nation's enduring obligation, as President Abraham Lincoln put it so eloquently in his second inaugural address, "to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan."

To that end, America spends hundreds of billions of dollars every year to provide our veterans with the finest medical care and a helping hand in pursuit of jobs, educations and homes. It is unlikely that any other nation has ever done so much to show its gratitude to those who have served in its military in war and peace. But serious injustices can still sometimes occur in the treatment of service men and women. Such an injustice has been found recently through the reporting of The Gazette's Dave Philipps.

This is an especially tough situation for senior military leaders who are being forced to make decisions with life-changing consequences, often without critically important medical knowledge or diagnostic tools. Even so, since there are always bad apples in any organization, commanders must be able to remove any individual who lowers the combat readiness of their units. Insuring combat readiness trumps every other military management consideration just as victory trumps every other strategic goal.

Thanks to the long years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the number of returning soldiers suffering from traumatic brain injury and/or post-traumatic stress disorder has spiraled. The Department of Defense has spent more than $700 million in recent years studying the causes and cures for TBI and PTSD, which are estimated to affect more than half a million Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. Progress has been made, but much remains to be learned.

It's tough enough providing proper medical care for victims of TBI and PTSD, but these wounds have presented the military with another challenge from an unexpected direction. As Philipps reports, "the surge in troops returning with PTSD and TBI after more than a decade of war poses a problem for the military because their symptoms often include bad decision-making, frayed memory and incendiary anger, all of which can be indistinguishable from misconduct. With little guidance, commanders struggle to determine who is badly injured and who is just bad."

The result is a disturbing increase in the number of Marines and Army soldiers diagnosed with severe combat-related medical conditions who are nevertheless kicked out of the service via a bureaucratic technicality known as a Chapter 10. Their numbers are comparatively few, but the affects are no less catastrophic for the individuals involved because they often lose their right to medical care and other services to which veterans are normally entitled.

Philipps chronicles these personal tragedies through the eyes of three men, all decorated war veterans who served gallantly on multiple deployments but came home severely afflicted and eventually found themselves thrown to the street. As one of them told Philipps, "It was like my best friend betrayed me. I had given the Army everything, and they took everything away."

A Chapter 10 is an obscure regulation that allows the DOD to separate an individual for an alleged pattern of violations like being late to formation, missing prescribed medical appointments and showing disrespect to commanding officers, conduct which is often traceable to TBI and PTSD but which can also be a product of bad attitudes and lack of military discipline. The problem is that it can be all but impossible to tell which is which. Based on data obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, Philipps reports a 60 percent increase Army-wide in misconduct discharges since 2006. Unfortunately, there is no data for the frequency of Chapter 10s across the services.

Multiple factors appear to be converging to produce this result, including the massive increase in head injuries caused by improvised explosive devices (IEDs), the rise in multiple deployments (it is not uncommon these days to encounter soldiers who have served four or five combat tours) and the lack of proven treatment protocols. Then there are the estimated $487 billion in military spending reductions imposed by President Barack Obama and Congress since 2009. The pressure to downsize the military is intense, and nobody should be surprised that soulless bureaucratic shortcuts like Chapter 10 discharges become too common in such an environment.

President Obama and Congress created this problem. Now it's time for them to do whatever is necessary to fix it. No soldier deserves less-than-honorable treatment after sustaining traumatic injuries while defending the common good. The United States and its Army are so much better than this.

http://gazette.com/americas-wounded-warriors-deserve-better/article/1500962

Happiness, Joy and Love are Our Right

2013-05-19T02:20:00.001-05:00

Unfortunately, we bear today,
a lifetime of broken dreams.
We also bear the victory,
to overcome and change many things.
We should no longer have to dwell,
upon the heartache we have known.
It is time to see the sun gleaming, we
have all searched for answers to be shown.
Lets dry our tears from all the pain,
with clear eyes lets anticipate new sight.
Lets go forward and let that be our aim,
happiness, joy and love are certainly our right.
We should all have visions of dreams to come,
we have endured the worst storm we will ever face.
We need to give ourselves credit for being alive,
we all lived for a "special" reason and that is our first base.
We need to find out what that "special" reason may really be,
we are important to a power much greater than "WE."

Debbie M. Wison

Son's road rage claims mother's life

2013-05-19T00:20:00.004-05:00

Even as the city police were intensifying their drive against road rage, a 46-year-old woman here on fell victim to an incident of road rage on Friday night.

The victim, Sameena Babu, was riding pillion on the bike ridden by her son Mohammed Sherif (20) when the latter started chasing another bike. The chase turned fatal as it eventually led to an accident that claimed his mother’s life.

“The mother-son duo was riding on Saradha Mill Road at Podanur when a biker brushed against their bike. Sherif chased the biker for nearly a kilometre,” said inspector Maria Muthu.

When they reached Pollachi Road near Sundarapuram, Sherif had closed-in on the other biker.

Unaware of the presence of a barricade, he rammed into it. Police said Sherif’s bike skidded after it hit a barricade when he attempted to overtake and intercept the other bike.

In the fall, Sameena Babu, who was riding sidesaddle, suffered injuries on the back of her head and died on the spot.

Meanwhile, Sherif escaped with minor injuries, but his mother died on the spot. The accident took place around 9.45 pm.

The two were taken a private hospital by locals. Traffic Investigation Wing police have registered a case and are investigating.

http://newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/Sons-road-rage-claims-mothers-life/2013/05/19/article1596427.ece

What is epilepsy?

2013-05-18T21:43:00.002-05:00

Manal Ismail

May 19, 2013

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What is epilepsy?

A disorder that makes a person suffer repeated seizures over time, caused by abnormal electrical disturbances in the brain.

Seizures are episodes of disturbed brain activity that cause changes in attention or behaviour.

Categories of epilepsy

Primary or idiopathic epilepsy occurs spontaneously without a clear cause and can be inherited. Brain scans are usually clear but an electroencephalogram (EEG) will usually identify irregular electric activity in the brain. More than two thirds of epilepsy cases worldwide fall under primary epilepsy.

Secondary, or symptomatic epilepsy, occurs when there is a medical condition or injury affecting the brain, such as a stroke or tumour. A brain scan, typically magnetic resonance imaging, will usually identify where the lesion is and treatment will be prescribed accordingly.

Types of seizures

Petit mal seizures is the term commonly given to a staring spell, most commonly called an absence seizure. It is a brief – usually about 15 seconds – disturbance of brain function due to abnormal electrical activity in the brain.

Generalised tonic-clonic seizure is a seizure that involves the entire body. It is also called a grand mal seizure. The terms “seizure”, “convulsion” or “epilepsy” are most often associated with generalised tonic-clonic seizures. Many patients experience vision, taste, smell, or sensory changes, hallucinations, or dizziness before the seizure. This is called an aura.

Partial (focal) seizures occur when the electrical activity remains in a limited area of the brain. The seizures may sometimes turn into generalised seizures, which affect the whole brain. This is called secondary generalisation.

Triggers

These vary between patients depending on the type of epilepsy they have, but common triggers can include lack of sleep, excessive alcohol intake, stress and long exposure to video games.

What to do if someone has a seizure

Once a seizure starts, nothing can be done to stop it. But a few precautions can be taken to protect patients from harm:
• Try to put the patient’s head to the side so that the tongue is not retracted and does not obstruct breathing. Do not place anything in the patient’s mouth.
• Remove any solid objects
surrounding the patient. If possible, smoothly place the patient on the ground.
• Immediately seek medical help.

Sources: MedlinePlus; International League Against Epilepsy; Dr Iyad Khoudeir, consultant neurologist, Al Noor Hospital

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