Florida First Responders May Get PTSD Justice

Bill to help first responders fight PTSD moves forward in Florida Legislature
WFTV 9 News
Updated: Mar 3, 2017

Mental health workers now believe more law enforcement officers die from PTSD-related suicide than violent crime,

ORLANDO, Fla. - A bill filed two weeks ago in the Florida Senate now has a companion bill in the House, bringing help for first responders dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder a step closer in the state.

First responders have to deal with situations and see things that most people never will, Dr. Deborah Beidel, a University of Central Florida psychology professor, said.

Tragedies like the Pulse nightclub massacre have a lasting effect on first responders and it is important to treat psychological trauma as you would physical injuries, she said.

“Just as physical injuries may affect the body, having to witness some of the events that happen in these types of trauma certainly create psychological stress,” Beidel said. “We like to think of it as a stress injury.”

The bills making their way through the legislature would make it easier for first responders to get time off and get mental health treatment.

Currently, state law does not require workers’ compensation cover PTSD issues because it’s not a physical injury.
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Fort Bragg Soldier Shot in Back by Soldier Wife

Fort Bragg soldier shot by wife during dispute, police say
Fay Observer
By Nancy McCleary, Staff writer
March 2, 2017

HOPE MILLS — A Fort Bragg soldier was shot in the back Wednesday evening during a domestic dispute with his wife, who also is an active-duty soldier, Hope Mills police said Thursday.

Officers responding to a reported shooting on the 4100 block of Edward E. Maynor Drive found Jonathan Coleman, 39, with a gunshot wound to his upper left back, Chief Joel Acciardo said in an email Thursday morning.
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Marine Afghanistan Veteran Went from Combat, to Car, to College?

This veteran went from living in his car to graduating college
USA Today
Brooke Metz
March 2, 2017

Zack Cleghorn with his diploma from East Carolina University. (Photo: provided by Zack Cleghorn)

Four years ago, Zack Cleghorn was living in his car.

After returning home from a seven-year tour as a Marine in Japan, Afghanistan and the U.S., Cleghorn worked as a car salesman for several months to make ends meet. But he struggled with PTSD and depression.

“There was a time I didn’t want to wake up in the morning,” says Cleghorn, 28.

College, which no one in his family had attended, seemed like the best way to move forward. So he moved in with a friend and enrolled at Pitt Community College in Winterville, North Carolina, on a scholarship. Thanks to his financial aid package, he was able to pay for an apartment while he took classes.

Two years later, Cleghorn transferred to East Carolina University to finish his degree in industrial engineering technology. He graduated in December and, last week, received his diploma.
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Iraq Veteran's Son Dying of Cancer Has Precious Moments

Army veteran dad making 10-year-old son's final months memorable
FOX News
March 3, 2017

Ayden Zeigler-Kohler was diagnosed with DIPG after collapsing during a football practice. (Ayden Zeigler-Kohler Fund by Shay Weber - GoFundMe)

Seven months ago, 10-year-old Ayden Zeigler-Kohler was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor and given between eight and 12 months to live. His Pennsylvania-based family spent the first few months frantically searching for a clinical trial aimed at beating diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), but has since decided to focus on helping Ayden enjoy the time he has left.

DIPG brain tumors are highly aggressive and notoriously difficult to treat, and, due to their placement on the brain stem, affect breathing, blood pressure and heart rate.

Kohler, who struggled after returning from Iraq, told the news outlet that Ayden’s birth saved his life, and that the two are inseparable, often finding solace in the woods while hunting.

“I was a medic in the war, you know, and you fix things,” Kohler told the Statesman Journal. “And this was something I couldn’t even touch.”
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US Navy PTSD Research Shows Women's Risk Higher Than Males

Study of U.S. Navy healthcare personnel finds higher PTSD risk among women than men
News Medical Life Sciences
March 2, 2017

The researchers reviewed gathered data from the deployment records and post-deployment health assessments of more than 4,200 men and women who served in the U.S. Navy and supported military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A study of U.S. Navy healthcare personnel has shown that when comparing the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among women and men who had similar deployment experiences, and especially combat experience, the risk of PTSD was significantly higher among women. 

PTSD risk rose for both men and women with an increasing number of combat exposures, as reported in Journal of Women's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Journal of Women's Health website until April 1, 2017.
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Veteran Learns to Overcome PTSD and Heal

Not new, so, not "groundbreaking" plus, there is no cure, but as this does show, there is real healing going on, and that is the most important thing to take away from all of this. No one is stuck the way you are. You can change again for the better and take away the power PTSD has over you.

Groundbreaking Fort Hood Study On PTSD Gives Hope For A Permanent Cure
NBC 6 News
Doug Currin

RETIRED SERGEANT FIRST CLASS SEAN BRACK - WHO - WITH SEVERAL SYMPTOMS OF THE STRESS, KNEW HE NEEDED HELP. SOON AFTERWARDS, MR. BRACK HEARD OF AN EXPERIMENTAL THERAPY HAPPENING ON POST DONE BY THE STRONG STAR CONSORTIUM AND THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS HEALTH AND SCIENCE CENTER OF SAN ANTONIO.

Brack sums up his takeaway: “the simple act of telling someone is an amazing release. Literally like a weight off the chest. You realize I’m not the only one who feels this way – I’m not crazy for feeling this way.”

Retired sergeant first class Sean Brack - who - with several symptoms of the stress, knew he needed help. Soon afterwards, Mr. Brack heard of an experimental therapy happening on post done by the Strong Star consortium and the University of Texas Health and Science Center of San Antonio.

He soon realized he could overcome and move forward with his life.

When P.T.S.D. takes over, it's coming out of a dark place, that can take a long time. Sean's experience was just that.

“When I did feel something it would be rage.”

His quality of life was suffering. and medications were not helping.

“I couldn't keep my eyes open during the day but I couldn't sleep at night. it was like looking through a vail of gauze. Everything was dull. I just didn't care,” he said.

Sean was already in an altered sense of reality - so his rational thinking was in question.

One thing in particular he remembers - walking in the war zone in Afghanistan, and what it was like to walk among those who were killed and left for dead.
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VA Study: Aspirin May Help Prevent Some Cancers

VA study highlights benefits of enhanced aspirin in preventing certain cancers

WASHINGTON — Researchers know of aspirin’s benefits in preventing certain ailments — from cardiovascular disease to most recently colorectal cancer. But while the link to those two conditions was made, researchers also questioned how and if this “wonder drug” could work to ward off other types of cancers. 

Thanks to a team led by Dr. Vinod Vijayan at the DeBakey Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Houston and Dr. Lenard Lichtenberger of the University of Texas Health Sciences Center, new studies verify their theory of cancer-prevention benefits based on aspirin’s effects on platelets—blood cells that form clots to stop bleeding. The findings appear in the February 2017 issue of Cancer Prevention Research journal.

“Along with clotting, platelets also play a role in forming new blood vessels,” Vijayan said. “That action is normally beneficial, such as when a new clot forms after a wound, and new vessels are needed to redirect blood flow. But the same action can help tumors grow. It’s this process that aspirin can interrupt.”

Their lab tests showed how aspirin blocked the interaction between platelets and cancer cells by shutting down the enzyme COX-1, thereby curbing the number of circulating platelets and their level of activity.

Some of their experiments used regular aspirin from a local drug store. In another phase, the researchers used a special preparation of aspirin combined with phosphatidylcholine, a type of lipid, or fat molecule. The molecule is a main ingredient in soy lecithin. The product, known as Aspirin-PC/PL2200, is designed to ease the gastrointestinal risk associated with standard aspirin.

The enhanced aspirin complex was even stronger against cancer than the regular aspirin. Summarizing their findings, the researchers wrote: “These results suggest that aspirin’s chemopreventive effects may be due, in part, to the drug blocking the proneoplastic [supporting new, abnormal growth, as in cancer] action of platelets and [they support] the potential use of Aspirin-PC/PL2200 as an effective and safer chemopreventive agent for colorectal cancer and possibly other cancers.”

In collaboration with researchers at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, the group said they plan to test the lipid-aspirin complex for safety and efficacy in people at high risk for colorectal cancer. Meanwhile, they said their results, so far, “support the use of low-dose aspirin for chemoprevention.” They added that Aspirin-PC/PL2200 has “similar chemopreventive actions to low-dose aspirin and may be more effective.”

The research study was supported by the National Institutes of Health.  For more information about VA research on cancer, visit www.research.va.gov/topics/cancer.

Lichtenberger is a professor of integrative biology and pharmacology at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center. Vijayan, an expert in platelet biology, is with the Center for Translational Research on Inflammatory Diseases at the DeBakey VA Medical Center. He is also an associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine.

Death of Airman Under Investigation in North Carolina

Air Force investigating death at Goldsboro home 
WRAL News 
February 28, 2017 

GOLDSBORO, N.C. — The Air Force was investigating the death of an airman Tuesday afternoon at a home on Brantwood Drive in Goldsboro. 

Special agents from the Air Force Office of Special Investigations were on scene, and neighbors said a body was removed from the home sometime around noon. read more here

Suicide Suspected in Death of Missouri Sailor

Submarine sailor dies on watch in port in suspected suicide
Navy Times
By: David B. Larter
February 28, 2017

A junior sailor on board the attack submarine Missouri died during an overnight watch in a suspected suicide early Monday morning.

The third-class petty officer, whose name is being withheld for privacy concerns, is believed to have died from a gunshot wound from his issued 9mm pistol while standing a quarterdeck watch on Missouri, which is stationed at Naval Submarine Base New London, Connecticut, according to an internal memo on the incident obtained by Navy Times.

The incident occurred at about 1:30 in the morning.

A statement from Naval Submarine Support Center New London acknowledged the death, but declined to cite a cause of death citing an ongoing investigation.
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Ex-Homeless Veteran Enters Ms. Veteran America Contest

From Combat Boots to High Heels: Grand Forks woman enters pageant to shine light on veteran homeless
Grand Folks Herald
By Pamela Knudson
Feb 28, 2017

"It's one of those things you never imagine yourself doing. I've never been a 'girly girl.' I didn't wear high heels; I wore a uniform and combat boots." 

Sandy Gessler

Sandy Gessler never imagined herself as a beauty pageant contestant.

But, at age 60, she's entering the Ms. Veteran America contest to focus attention on the plight of homeless veterans—something she has experienced.

The Grand Forks woman plans to compete in the Ms. Veteran America regional pageant May 27 in Las Vegas. If she's one of the 25 contestants who wins there, she'll go on to the final competition in October in Washington, D.C.
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