Study: Brain Scans Diagnose PTSD With 90 Percent Accuracy

[☭proletarian☭]

Despite the prevalence of post traumatic stress disorder, especially in veterans (an estimated one in five from Iraq and Afghanistan have it, according to the Department of Defense), it can be maddeningly tricky to diagnose. But in a new study in Journal of Neural Engineering, brain researcher Apostolos Georgopoulos argues that his team has found, through the brain scanning technique called magnetoencephalography (MEG), a pattern in the brain associated with PTSD. In a MEG scan, researchers measure the magnetic fields generated by electric activity in the brain; the scans are far faster than those taken via MRI.

Study: Brain Scans Diagnose PTSD With 90 Percent Accuracy | 80beats | Discover Magazine

 

[Modbert]

Despite the prevalence of post traumatic stress disorder, especially in veterans (an estimated one in five from Iraq and Afghanistan have it, according to the Department of Defense), it can be maddeningly tricky to diagnose. But in a new study in Journal of Neural Engineering, brain researcher Apostolos Georgopoulos argues that his team has found, through the brain scanning technique called magnetoencephalography (MEG), a pattern in the brain associated with PTSD. In a MEG scan, researchers measure the magnetic fields generated by electric activity in the brain; the scans are far faster than those taken via MRI.

Study: Brain Scans Diagnose PTSD With 90 Percent Accuracy | 80beats | Discover Magazine

I had posted this to my PTSD awareness group when I first read this a couple days ago. I was very happy to see some sort of progress being made possibly. What they need to do now is to expand the trial run. Otherwise they truly won't know if the results are accurate.

 

[waltky]

No cure for PTSD, but it can be managed...

Panelists say post-traumatic stress disorder can't be cured, can only be managed
April 24, 2013 : There is no way to cure post-traumatic stress disorder, but those suffering from it can learn to manage it, health professionals said Tuesday night.

Kevin Smythe, a supervisory psychologist in the Mental Health Service Line at the Fayetteville VA Medical Center, said managing the disorder is currently the only option. "There are a lot of ebbs and flows (with the disorder)," Smythe said. He was one of five panelists to speak about the disorder and post-traumatic stress symptoms. The Cumberland County Public Library headquarters on Maiden Lane hosted the event, where about 60 people attended to learn more about the disorder and how it affects the community.

Other panelists included John Bigger, of the Regional Area Health Education Center; Dr. Harold Kudler, associate director of the VA's Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center for Deployment Mental Health and medical lead for the VISN 6 Rural Health Initiative; Heidi Vance, a licensed professional counselor associate and yoga therapist; and Molly VanDuser, a national certified counselor.

Post-traumatic stress starts after some life altering event that can be visible through several symptoms, including irritation, nightmares and hypervigilance, Kudler said. Post-traumatic stress disorder is when those symptoms have lasted longer than a month and affected one's ability to work and socialize. It is a diagnosed disorder, he said. Library officials said the topic was important to discuss in the community because Fayetteville's population is greatly affected by nearby Fort Bragg, one of the U.S. military's largest installations. "I still think there is a stigma attached to get information about this topic," said Jennifer Taft, who is the library system's awareness coordinator.

Taft said the talk was aimed toward a general public audience to keep the discussion relevant as to how the disorder can affect the community. While Smythe said there's no cure for the diagnosis, VanDuser said family members and neighbors can work to address and soothe disorder symptoms. "Support them," she said. "That way, when (soldiers) get back, you'll have a pulse on them." VanDuser said being friendly with soldier neighbors and knowing their normal behavior could make it easier to notice changes in their behavior after they return from war. Even noticing changes and offering to assist those suffering from the disorder is only part of the equation, panelists said. Smythe said the only way someone can get better or remedy their symptoms is when they are ready to address their diagnosis.

Source

See also:

VA to target claims older than one year
April 24, 2013 - A local veterans organization is skeptical about a recent decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs target claims older than a year for completion by 2015. Veterans whose claims fall in that time frame will be given a provisional rating and will have one year after receiving the rating to provide additional information before the VA issues a final decision.

“Too many veterans wait too long for a decision, and this has never been acceptable,” said VA secretary Eric Shinseki via a release announcing the backlog initiative. “That is why we are implementing an aggressive plan to eliminate the backlog in 2015. This initiative is the right thing to do now for veterans who have waited the longest.” One veteran service officer sees a flaw in the VA plan. “First off, all of their system is not intact yet,” said Jim Foyil, the veteran service officer for the Military Order of the Purple Heart. “They aren’t fully funded and if it is fully funded people won’t be trained in time to start it on time. You have to go through development, coaching, the rating process, etc. I don’t think they can do it. “It’s a valiant effort, but they wont have it done by 2015 because the claims that are still pending are still going to take anywhere from 12, 18 or 24 months unless they start changing the rating schedule tomorrow.”

U.S. Senator Kay Hagan, D-N.C., says she welcomes the news. “I welcome any action by the VA to reduce the unacceptable backlog of claims that have prevented our brave men and women from accessing the benefits they’ve earned,” Hagan said via a press release on the announcement. “While this initiative marks a step in the right direction for the VA, more must be done to reduce the wait times North Carolina veterans face.” More than 7,000 veterans have been waiting at least a year for the Winston-Salem Regional Office to rule on their disability claims — with more than 700 waiting more than two years — according to information from Hagan’s office. The average claim takes 341 days to process through the office in Winston-Salem, the second longest wait time in the VA’s southeastern region, according to Hagan’s office. “I will continue to monitor the VA’s efforts to reduce the backlog at the Winston-Salem Regional Office and do everything I can to ensure this problem is properly addressed,” Hagan said.

The VA is stuck in a vicious cycle where it can’t get an efficient group of adjudicating rating officers, Foyil said. “(The VA) can’t catch up,” he said. “Each one of those claims our modern veteran is filing, these guys have 13 or 14 claims on one file. By the time a QTC examination is done, it adds another 30, 45 or 60 days. It’s a very complex thing and people are not being educated.” Veteran service organizations have begun increasing staff members due to the military drawdown and a heavy influx of claims. “The service organizations are trying to do everything they can, but the VA is about two years behind everything, which slows everything down,” Foyil said. “The VA has a tough and tedious job to get all these claims done properly, but we as veterans service organizations have faith things will eventually work out.”

http://www.stripes.com/news/veterans/va-to-target-claims-older-than-one-year-1.217988

 

[waltky]

PTSD rejected as a defense for murder...

Jury rejects PTSD defense in Army veteran's murder trial
August 10, 2013 — Eileen Garnreiter wanted to break up with her boyfriend.

She complained to her family that he was controlling. She had doubts he'd be able to provide for her and their 5-week-old daughter. She griped that he made her iron his socks and scolded her if he didn't like what she was wearing in public. By Jan. 7, 2011, she'd had enough. She canceled plans to go to a Lakers game with a friend to tell her boyfriend that their relationship was over. Hours later, the 22-year-old lay dead on the kitchen floor of the couple's Lawndale apartment, with a black eye and 16 stab wounds — three to the neck. On Friday, a Torrance jury convicted her boyfriend, Tymarc Warren, of murder. Warren, who served two tours of duty in Iraq with the U.S. Army, blamed the killing on post-traumatic stress disorder — a contention the jury didn't buy.

Moments before the verdict was read aloud, more than two dozen of Garnreiter's family and friends crowded into the fifth-floor courtroom, clutching photos of her and wiping tears. "I was praying that the jury saw the same thing we've known all along," said Garnreiter's mother, Yesenia Nash. "This was a case of domestic violence." Warren faces 26 years to life in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 25. At trial, Warren, 28, told jurors that after returning from Iraq in 2005, he suffered from nightmares and found large crowds a source of anxiety. His attorney, Louisa Pensanti, said her client was scarred by what he witnessed in Iraq, especially a roadside bomb that exploded near his convoy.

A defense expert testified that Warren, who entered the Army at 17 after graduating from Leuzinger High School, suffered from complex post-traumatic stress disorder. But a psychiatrist hired by prosecutors disagreed and said Warren's military service was actually one of the more positive experiences in his life. In closing arguments, Deputy Dist. Atty. Frank Dunnick noted that Warren passed two post-deployment mental health evaluations and called the strategy of invoking military service to escape a murder conviction offensive. For Garnreiter's family and friends, who sat in the first two rows of the courtroom every day of the more than two-week trial, Warren's defense was difficult to bear. "It's an insult to our men and women in the armed forces," said Cathy Johnson, 58, a family friend who runs a foundation in Garnreiter's honor that works to prevent domestic violence.

MORE

 

[eots]

PTSDis what my partner apparently suffers from its a bizarre tale..probably in some ways worse than combat..her father stabled her in the heart when she was 5 in a schizophrenic episode he spent 5 yrs in a mental hospital and on his release..he returned and became the childrens main care-giver.. her mother went to work in the city only returning on week-ends , he moved the whole family out to the sticks because of his paranoia and they lived like it was the 1800s in tents for years only well water no showers..wood stoves..outhouse.. while he slowly built a house..she lived everyday wondering if he would snap..she was befriended by a preacher when she was 14 who would bring out food take her to church ..let her use the shower there..he was murdered and her father was the main suspect but never charged...she left home at 19 some how she graduated on the honor roll ..her father just completed the house as she was leaving .. ten years later he phones trying to get her to come for a visit but I talked her out of it the next day he shot and wounded her mother and brother...and ended up back in a mental hospital..he was only in there a month and was released and returned home to his wife and son !..while awaiting trial on attempted murder..he was found not guilt by reason of insanity again...then a year later the police call..question her about the murder that took place with the preacher when she was 14 ..apparently her father said something about it while he was in the mental hospital but its not admissible as a confession because he was certified as insane at the time and they wanted to know if he ever discussed while 'sane" so in many ways this trauma has gone on for a lifetime .I have a lot of sympathy for it but I sure wish there was something that could help her with her panic and anxiety

 

[waltky]

Changing attitudes on repressing combat trauma while deployed...

Downrange, no longer suffering the code of silence
August 22, 2013 > PTSD’s prevalence changes attitudes on repressing combat trauma while deployed

Editor's Note: In this occasional series, Stars and Stripes examines the mental health of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan and how they cope with war’s internal burden while deployed. Stories will explore the work of psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers and chaplains to reduce the combat-related stress of troops; the efforts of senior officers to balance the needs of soldiers with the demands of the U.S. mission; and the fear of asking for help that still exists within the Army. This series is produced with the support of a Rosalynn Carter Fellowship for Mental Health Journalism.
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There was a time when Sgt. 1st Class Corey Hawkins showed concern toward fellow troops in a manner that more resembled a scolding. If his team, squad or platoon lost a soldier to serious injury, he offered words that pummeled rather than soothed. The PG-rated, expletive-deleted version went something like this: “Suck it up. You can’t stop going — you have to drive on. This is the way it is.” He cared but refused to coddle, a devotee of the Army’s tough-love philosophy that molded him. On a Friday morning a few weeks ago, three months into his sixth deployment, Hawkins confronted the same scenario in Afghanistan. He had learned that one of his men, Sgt. Luke Cifka, had stepped on an improvised explosive device in Logar province.

Spc. Travis Barrett, left, talks with Capt. Mickey Basham, chaplain of the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, about an attack in Aghanistan's Logar province that seriously wounded a member of Barrett's platoon.

Hawkins, the leader of a scout platoon with the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, called together his soldiers. They gathered in the narrow hallway of their plywood barracks at Forward Operating Base Shank. Most knew only that someone in the platoon of about two dozen had been wounded. He gave them the news with typical bluntness. “Cifka got hit by an IED,” Hawkins said, pausing to chop a hand against the middle of his thigh. “He’s lost both his legs from here down.” He went on that way for another minute or two as he detailed the attack and Cifka’s condition. Then, his tone softening, Hawkins turned more paternal, shifting his attention from the wounded soldier to those standing before him. “I want you to talk about this with each other,” he said. “I want you to talk about Cifka, talk about your times doing stuff with him. Keep a positive attitude because that’s what he would want. And remember: He’s alive, not dead.”

His open compassion suggested a changed perception of the internal ravages of war, and offered an example of a slowly rising sensitivity among senior officers to combat-related stress. “I still have some of the ‘suck it up’ mentality when it comes to day-to-day stuff,” said Hawkins, 35, of Boulder, Col., who has returned to Afghanistan 11 years after his first tour here. “But when you have big events like this — injuries to guys — it’s important that guys know they can talk. You don’t want them just staying in their rooms. That’s how they can wind up having problems.” The war in Afghanistan, nearing its 12th anniversary, and the eight-year war in Iraq that ended in 2011 illuminated the mental burden of combat across a generation of troops. A Veterans Affairs study last year found that almost one-third of Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans treated at VA hospitals and clinics suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

More Downrange, no longer suffering the code of silence - News - Stripes

 

[waltky]

Traumatic Brain Injury linked to early death risk...

Moderate to severe TBI linked to increased risk of early death
January 15, 2014 ~ People who survive six months or longer after suffering traumatic brain injuries continue to remain at risk for premature death long after their injury, according to a study published Wednesday by the American Medical Association.

The study, led by Dr. Seena Fazel at the University of Oxford in England, used data from Sweden going back to 1954. With data from such a long time period, the research team was able to draw conclusions about the long-term consequences of moderate to severe traumatic brain injuries, Fazel said. “One of the bottom lines is thinking about this as a chronic illness, a chronic disease,” he said. His team found that while traumatic brain injuries, or TBI, tend to be one-off events, they have chronic, long-term consequences, he said. “And one of the consequences is premature mortality.”

The risk of premature death after a TBI is small — just 3.6 percent, according to the study. But among those who survived six months or longer after a TBI, there was a threefold increase in the odds of dying early when compared to the general population, according to the study. The odds of early death jump even higher for TBI patients also suffering from psychiatric illnesses, depression or substance abuse. “The co-morbidity seems to elevate risks really substantially,” Fazel said. “For instance, if you have TBI and psychiatric illness, your odds of suicide before the age of 56 are increased 19-fold.”

About half of the early deaths noted in the study resulted from external factors, such as suicide, accidents and other injuries. The other half came from a range of other conditions, such as heart disease and cancer. However, Fazel said the study was not designed to draw conclusions about why there is such a correlation between TBI and early death.

Asked about what the study means for military personnel who have suffered TBIs, Fazel said he hoped TBI patients would be more likely to seek assessment or treatment if they know they’re at increased risk for depression or other ailments developing after a TBI. “In a way, it’s about coming to terms with the changes and being aware of what are some of the possible consequences going forward.”

Moderate to severe TBI linked to increased risk of early death - News - Stripes

See also:

VA eases rules for claims on some TBI-related health problems
December 16, 2013 WASHINGTON — Veterans Affairs officials are easing disability filing rules for brain injured veterans with additional combat complications like depression, dementia or Parkinson’s disease.

The move comes after outside studies linked those secondary illnesses — along with unprovoked seizures and diseases of the hypothalamus and pituitary glands — to traumatic brain injury. Veterans who prove their TBI is service-related won’t have to prove those secondary issues also stem from combat wounds, creating a quicker path to receive disability payments. As with any claim, the amount for payouts will still depend on the severity of the health issues.

According to Veterans Benefits Administration statistics, about 73,000 veterans are currently receiving disability payments for service-connected brain injuries. But outside experts estimate that one in five recent combat veterans — more than 500,000 individuals — may suffer from some level of TBI. VA officials could not say how many veterans may suffer from both TBI and one of the five new presumptive illnesses. However, they categorized the number of affected cases as “small” and said they do not expect the new rule to have a noticeable change on the claims inventory or backlog.

They also noted that the change does not create any new entitlements for veterans, only speeds up awards for injuries already covered under VA rules. In the past, veterans had to submit medical documentation linking the TBI and the secondary condition before claims would be approved. The new rules go into effect in mid-January. Although the outside research focused on younger veterans, the new policy covers veterans of all generations.

http://www.stripes.com/news/va-eases-rules-for-claims-on-some-tbi-related-health-problems-1.257939

Related:

Stars and Stripes' coverage of traumatic brain injury (TBI)

 

[waltky]

Ecstasy One Step Closer to Approval as PTSD Treatment...

Ecstasy One Step Closer to Approval as PTSD Treatment
Dec 20, 2016 | The Iraqi interpreter wanted a ride in the Humvee after a long mission outside Baghdad in April 2007. Already crowded with armor-clad soldiers, Army Spc. Tony Macie told him he'd have to wait for more vehicles to return to Patrol Base Dog to pick him up.

No Humvees arrived, but a dump truck weighed down with explosives did. The detonation reduced the base to a pile of bricks. Survivors radioed: "broken arrow," a distress signal for units in danger of being overrun by the enemy. A mushroom cloud plumed overhead. Macie's unit sped back to pull the dead and wounded out of the rubble. It took days. Two U.S. troops were killed, along with two interpreters -- including the one Macie told to wait. Did Macie kill him? The question surged through Macie's brain circuitry in the twin, almond-shaped amygdalae, which regulate emotions, memories and fear. His mind braced for an imminent attack as adrenaline flooded neural receptors nearly every day during his 14-month tour, and continued once he returned home. "My brain wasn't able to shut off. It was going a million miles a minute. You need it on a deployment. But it's not normal at home," said Macie, whose job as a forward observer for artillery strikes meant his mind would never stop processing where he and fellow soldiers were at all times.

Macie, now 29, was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder by the Army when he left in 2008 with a medical discharge following back injuries he sustained in Iraq. He was anxious and depressed and had trouble sleeping. Macie tried to drown those feelings with alcohol and a cocktail of painkillers and antidepressants prescribed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. He received disability compensation for PTSD, along with numerous modes of therapy offered by the agency. Nothing helped. But there was one long shot: MDMA, known more broadly as the illegal party drug Ecstasy.

In late November, the Food and Drug Administration approved a large-scale Phase 3 trial to evaluate the use of MDMA in treatment of PTSD, which is the final step before possible approval as a prescription drug. The second phase of the drug trials, which started in 2000, began to include veterans in 2010. Like the other veterans involved in the study, Macie was selected because of his chronic-resistance PTSD, which is severe enough that treatments fail to reduce symptoms. The results have excited advocates searching for new ways to treat mental health injuries. Two-thirds of the 107 participants in Phase 2 of the trial no longer meet the criteria for having PTSD a year after they completed therapy, according to researchers who analyzed data a year after patients finished the trial.

Some of the 27 veterans involved in the trial describe MDMA-assisted psychotherapy as a cure, not a treatment. War transformed Macie's brain. But four years ago, Macie took a single dose of MDMA and felt his PTSD symptoms begin to lift as he went through eight hours of difficult psychotherapy, where the deepest traumas of his deployment rose to the surface. Most of the patients in Phase 2 opted for the standard three treatments. Macie said what he needed came sooner. "I didn't need more than one dose," Macie said. "I got the message."

Unlikely advocate[/B]

 

[Moonglow]

Whooo-hooo!