Post by Admin on Jun 14, 2016 18:47:49 GMT -5
A recent study mentioned in a recent New York Times article about PTSD points to an intriguing finding which may be helpful for PTSD vets who suffer from IED attacks or other injuries incurred as result of explosions. To read the whole NY Time article go here. The original journal article was in last Thursday's(June 9, 2016) The Lancet Neurology, a prominent medical journal in the UK but the link I have is bad. If I can find it I'll post it.
The gist as I understand it is that a prominent expert brain specialist with decades experience studying brain cells was asked by the VA/DOD to do a five year study of the brains of Vets, particularly those lost to suicide or as end result of PTSD symptoms etc. His findings are dramatic in that he sees actual physical markers in brains of blast wave vets; this indicates -- in preliminary findings -- that PTSD for those victims of blast wave damages may have actual physical causes. The implications for treatment are significant. Up until quite recently (last few years) the wisdom of the VA and military medical establishment was that PTSD (esp. blast-wave induced vets) could be dealt with through behavioral therapies. The NYTimes article talked about how in World War I it was "Shell Shock", then "Combat Fatique" and then since Vietnam, PTSD. It seems to me that if they are able to know for sure what physical brain damage has been done in blast wave cases,that therapies can be improved to address that aspect, as well as the necessary behavioral/Mental health therapies (such as we get at Wilm VA, CBT, MBSR etc).
Another point of the research is that the brains of the blast waves victims are NOT like those of football player or boxers, (called CTE). For more, please read the whole article:
www.nytimes.com/2016/06/10/us/ptsd-blast-waves-research.html
The gist as I understand it is that a prominent expert brain specialist with decades experience studying brain cells was asked by the VA/DOD to do a five year study of the brains of Vets, particularly those lost to suicide or as end result of PTSD symptoms etc. His findings are dramatic in that he sees actual physical markers in brains of blast wave vets; this indicates -- in preliminary findings -- that PTSD for those victims of blast wave damages may have actual physical causes. The implications for treatment are significant. Up until quite recently (last few years) the wisdom of the VA and military medical establishment was that PTSD (esp. blast-wave induced vets) could be dealt with through behavioral therapies. The NYTimes article talked about how in World War I it was "Shell Shock", then "Combat Fatique" and then since Vietnam, PTSD. It seems to me that if they are able to know for sure what physical brain damage has been done in blast wave cases,that therapies can be improved to address that aspect, as well as the necessary behavioral/Mental health therapies (such as we get at Wilm VA, CBT, MBSR etc).
Another point of the research is that the brains of the blast waves victims are NOT like those of football player or boxers, (called CTE). For more, please read the whole article:
www.nytimes.com/2016/06/10/us/ptsd-blast-waves-research.html