Volunteers Wanted for PTSD Study of Treatment Some Call a Miracle

longknife · Nov 8, 2016

Well, if it works, I'm for it. My main question is; What's the cost? Is it going to be affordable for the tens of thousands of vets suffering from PTSD?

A treatment involving the injection of a local anesthetic next to a bundle of nerves in the neck has eased post-traumatic stress symptoms in some patients in as little as 30 minutes with dramatic, lasting results.

And

Besides Landstuhl, Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg, N.C., and Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, are participating.

More @ http://www.military.com/daily-news/...sd-study-of-treatment-some-call-a-miracl.html

FreshAir · Nov 8, 2016

sounds like it would not cost that much, but that depends how long each treatment lasts

I believe during every war we should have a war tax to pay for treatments like this of soldiers coming home

.

waltky · Mar 13, 2017

Veterans Using New Electromagnetic Therapy to Treat Depression...

VA Uses New Electromagnetic Therapy to Treat Depression
11 Mar 2017 | The new therapy uses an electromagnet charged with electricity that is applied to specific points on a patient's head.

Vietnam veteran Percy Jones is one of thousands who have served in the military and now suffers from depression. Jones fought his battle with depression for years and eventually began isolating himself, making matters worse. "I got angry easily and I was always very nervous," Jones told Fox News."I couldn't sleep. I started drinking too much. It got to the point where I was suicidal. I just didn't want to live." It's not just veterans who are at risk of depression, as 11,887 active duty service members received a diagnosis between January and May of 2016 alone. That number adds to the 774,000 veterans who received a possible diagnosis of major depression in 2016.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is providing a new option to help fight the disorder called Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, or rTMS therapy. It's a device that uses an electromagnet charged with electricity that is applied to specific points on the patient's head. The powerful magnetic field can then affect the brain cells of the person suffering from depression. The VA purchased 40 rTMS devices to be distributed at facilities across the country. Jones is the first South Carolina patient to receive rTMS therapy. He began seeing Dr. Mark George, the man who invented rTMS therapy, and enrolled in a national trial at the Charleston VA. The therapy involves up to 30 sessions over a six-week period. Jones' treatments lasted 30 minutes per day, five days per week, for six weeks straight. Jones says he saw results shortly after enrolling in the trial. "In the first week and a half I could feel a difference," Jones said. "I started realizing that I was myself again."

Percy Jones receives rTMS therapy to help treat his depression.

Kate Beaver, a spokesperson for the VA in Charleston, told Fox News that 60 percent of patients that received the treatment for clinical trials reported their depression improved or disappeared. "Some patients who get well will stay well indefinitely," Beaver said. "Others may need 'booster' sessions from time to time." Beaver said there are a few side effects that patients experienced during or shortly after getting the treatment: scalp discomfort, headache, facial twitching or pain which can be treated with over the counter pain medications. "These symptoms tend to lessen or go away over treatment time," Beaver said. "Seizure during treatment is the most serious known risk of TMS, and only a very few cases of seizure have been reported. There is little evidence of risk of seizures using TMS the way it is used for depression."

Most insurance companies do not cover the procedure, which could mean thousands in out-of-pocket costs. Terrence Hayes, spokesman for the VA, said the department is currently working with various insurance companies to get better coverage. He said veterans will likely pay a small portion of the overall cost. "The full course of therapy is variable and can cost between $6,000 and $12,000, depending upon the patient's condition and the number of sessions needed," Beaver said. Twenty rTMS devices, costing up to $100,000, will be delivered this year and 20 more are planned for 2018. This decision came nearly three weeks after President Trump announced that it was his top priority to ensure that veterans get the care they need when and where they need it.

http://www.military.com/daily-news/...tic-therapy-to-treat-veterans-depression.html
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Hillman Avenger · Mar 19, 2017

stellate ganglion block
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, or rTMS therapy

I hope this turns out to be as effective as it looks like being. I work with people with PTSD and depression and something like these treatments could make a massive difference to the day-to-day livability of their lives. Unfortunately being in the UK, no one I know would qualify for trials.

waltky · Apr 7, 2017

Low-cost antibiotic may help with PTSD...

Scientists Exploring Antibiotic Treatment for PTSD
April 06, 2017 - People suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, may eventually be helped by a low-cost antibiotic. Early studies show the drug, doxycycline, may be beneficial in the treatment of the psychiatric condition.

People who have lived through a traumatic experience like war, natural disaster or rape will sometimes relive the experience in their minds to a disabling degree. They experience hyper-vigilance, flashbacks and nightmares. Psychological therapy is usually the treatment of choice to ease the symptoms. Now, scientists think they may be on to something else that works, an antibiotic called doxycycline. It is an old, extremely cheap drug that is normally used to fight bacterial infections.

Here's how it works: To form memories, studies have shown that our brains need proteins called matrix enzymes. They are found all over the body and when they're overactive they contribute to some immune diseases, even some cancers. Drugs, including doxycycline, block these enzymes. Because of their association with memories, researchers wondered if the antibiotic might also weaken the mechanism that forms negative memories. For a memory to persist, according to Dr. Dominik Bach, it has to be reconsolidated or altered in some way.

A pharmacist holds up a bottle of the antibiotic doxycycline in Sacramento, California

A clinical psychiatry researcher at University of Zurich and the Institute of Neurology at University College London, Bach has been conducting experiments with doxycycline. He suggested it prevents reconsolidation of memories. “I believe if it works, it could be a treatment that is much simpler and much shorter than a psychotherapy, and I guess it could be very beneficial.” Bach helped conduct a study involving 76 healthy participants, half of whom were given the antibiotic while the other half received a placebo.

They were then exposed to the colors red or blue on a computer screen, each volunteer receiving a mild electric shock when they saw one of the colors and not the other. Each volunteer came to associate pain with a particular color. A week later, the participants were brought back into the lab. But instead of receiving a shock, they heard a loud noise when they saw the color that was previously associated with the shock.

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Volunteers Wanted for PTSD Study of Treatment Some Call a Miracle

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