Pentagon researches alternative treatments

Pentagon researches alternative treatments



MILITARY HEALTH STORIES

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Pentagon spends $300M to study troops' stress, trauma



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Report: Improve care of vets with brain injury



Counselors struggle to reach war-zone troops




IMPACT OF PTSD

Study ties soldiers' symptoms to stress



Mandate would have commanders check Marines for stress, injury



War strains vets' system, observers say



Mental health treatment presents hurdles



Panel: Offer lifelong care to vets with PTSD



Mental health worsens after hurricanes






By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is seeking new ways to treat troops suffering from combat stress or brain damage by researching such alternative methods as acupuncture, meditation, yoga and the use of animals as therapy, military officials said.
"This new theme is a big departure for our cautious culture," Dr. S. Ward Casscells, the Pentagon's assistant secretary for health affairs, told USA TODAY.

Casscells said he pushed hard for the new research, because "we are struggling with" post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) "as we are with suicide and we are increasingly willing to take a hard look at even soft therapies."

So far this year, the Pentagon is spending $5 million to study the therapies. In the previous two years, the Pentagon had not spent any money on similar research, records show.


MEDICAL NEWS: More hospitals offer alternative therapies

About 300,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans suffer from PTSD or major depression, and about 320,000 may have experienced at least a mild concussion or brain injury in combat, according to a RAND Corp. study released this year.

The Army reported a record 115 suicides last year, and suicides this year are at a rate that may exceed that, said Col. Eddie Stephens, the Army's deputy director for human resources policy. The Department of Veterans Affairs reported last month that suicides among Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans from all services reached a record high of 113 in 2006, the latest year for which there were figures.

Some military hospitals and installations already use alternative therapies, such as acupuncture as stress relievers for patients. The research will see whether the alternatives work so the Pentagon can use them more, said Army Brig. Gen. Loree Sutton, head of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury. Many of the treatments have been used for centuries, Sutton said, "so it just makes sense to bring all potential therapies to bear."

Her office issued a request for research proposals this year on therapies ranging from art and dance, to the ancient Chinese healing art of qigong or a therapy of hands-on touching known as Reiki.

Sutton's office narrowed a list of 82 proposals to about 10 projects this year, and research should begin, with servicemembers as subjects in some cases, in the next few months, said Col. Karl Friedl, head of the Army's Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center, which oversees the work.

Friedl said research will include how meditation can improve emotional resilience; how holding and petting an animal can treat PTSD and how acupuncture pain relief can relieve headaches created by mild brain damage from blasts.

"We want to add everything we can to our tool kit" for these injuries, said Col. Elspeth Ritchie, an Army psychiatrist.

Some soldiers who suffer from PTSD are reluctant to share their experiences in traditional psychiatric therapy, said Col. Charles Engel, an Army psychiatric epidemiologist. He said those soldiers may be more willing to use acupuncture and other alternatives if they are effective.

Initial research this summer with combat veterans showed that acupuncture relieved PTSD symptoms and eased pain and depression, Engel said. "Improvements were relatively rapid and clinically significant," he said.

About one third of sailors and Marines use some types of alternative therapies, mostly herbal remedies, according to a survey conducted last year. A recent Army study shows that one in four soldiers with combat-caused PTSD turned to herbs, chiropractors, acupuncture or megavitamins for relief.

Although the Pentagon's study of alternative medicine for combat diseases is unique, research into such therapies for broad public use is not new, said Richard Nahin, a senior adviser for the National Institutes of Health's National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. The NIH spends about $300 million a year on similar research.

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I cope with PTSD that has been diagnosed at the 100% P&T level by the VA, the "stressor" they used to document the medical problem occurred at Fort Wainwright, Alaska on February 6, 1975 during Operation Jack Frost, (the first cold weather brigade level war excercise during the Cold War) I was a member of Company C 2Bn 47th Infantry Regiment, 9th Infantry Division based at Fort Lewis, Washington (the first all volunteer division in the Army)7 fellow soldiers decided they wanted my wallet worse than I did, I was pushed down and kicked unconcious, they took my wallet and left me out cold in a snowbank and the temperature was -20 Farenheit, the men were from CSC 2/47th and I was able to identify the man who pushed me down and delivered the first kick, the day after I got out of the hospital the Company Commander had me sit next to the headcount in the messhall for breakfast to see if I could indetify anyone. When I saw "Tony" come in the dining hall he just glared at me, I waited to see where he sat down, and then went to our Orderly Room to get the Company Commander, Captain Martin, he sent the Executive Officer a 1LT Estes with me to get "Tony", it was impressive to say the least, he went to the table where Tong was seated and grabbed him by the back of his neck and lifted him out of his chair, Tony's fork was still in his hand and halfway to his mouth with a bite of his breakfast on it. On the way out of the messhall, 1LT Estes was reading Tong his legal rights, once we were back at the Orderly room, they called the C.I.D. agents handling the attack, they were at the barracks within minutes, and the next 2 hours were a blur, they returned about an hour later with a bus and a platoon of MPs, it seems that Tony indentified all of the other soldier involved in the assault.

They took away six more soldiers, they did not charge it as a racial incident, despite the 7 soldiers who attacked me were all black and I was white, they charged them with robbery and attempted murder. They were all taken back in chains to Fort Lewis, where during the Article 31 hearings 3 of them turned governemnt witnesses, and four were charged and taken to General Courts Martial, the severest level of Courts Martial, there are 3 levels, Summary Court (lowest level) Special Court Martial (medium level) and then General Courts Martial where the severest sentences can be dealt out. The courts martials were finally held in July 1975 and the 4 men were all sentenced to lengthy prison terms at Leavenworth Barracks, Kansas 15 years.

The three men who turned governments witness, were given Field Grade Article 15s by the Brigade Commander all reduced to E1 and then given Bad Conduct Discharges which left them with NO veterans benefits. I had asked for reassingment to South Korea where my older brother was stationed in the 2nd Infantry Division so I would not have to deal with the friends of the court martialed men, I was scared quite frankly. In August I was given my orders to the Honor Guard 8th Army, Yongsan Garrison, Korea.

I thought I was being given a decent job for the mess I had endured at Fort Lewis and the Army was trying to make me feel better about the Army in general. However I did not realize how small the Army really was in Korea, the people at the replacement center in Seoul, knew my brother who everyone called "Beetle" due to his last name "Bailey" they decided to do me a "favor" and had my orders changed from the "Honor Guard unit" and sent me to the 2nd Infantry Division, however they had 2/23 Infantry on my orders, my brother was in the 1/31st Infantry stationed in the DMZ at Camp Greaves, so at Camp Casey they sent me to the 1/31st Company B at Camp Liberty Bell, it is located across the road from the Joint Security Area (JSA) now known as Camp Bonifas in honor of Captain Bonifas who was killed by the North Koreans, in 1976 while I was still in Korea. The DMZ was still a very dangerous place and has been since the end of the "war" there have been many fire fights, incidents, assaults, etc. I was more scared going into Panmunjom on the back of 2/12 ton trucks called 'Duece and a halfs" armed only with wooden tool handles to retrieve a briefcase stolen by a North Korean Sergeant when he attacked a Major, and broke the laranx and took the briefcase, the Commanders decided a show of force was necessary and they sent in 3 companies armed with wooden weapons. The briefcase was returned and no rounds were fired. We did have armed men on the trucks with orders to only come out and return fire, if we were fired upon. Still when you are on the ground facing North Koreans knowing they have machine guns everywhere, it makes you pucker.

I re-enlisted in the Army for 6 years while I was in Korea, I did enjoy the Army, but over the next 6 years there would be more incidents, people I knew and liked, were injured or killed in training accidents, one by a drunk driver in germany, we were on foot, and a car came onto the sidewalk and killed him in front of me. At Fort Irwin I watched a man beheaded between two tanks on Super Bowl Sunday 1982, he was ground guiding a tank, and in the dark the driver missed a signal and the fiberglass mick up to make the Sheridan tank look like a Russian BMP caught him just under his chin and when it pushed him into the front tank it popped his head off like a zit.

Needless to say, I have issues, or is it subscriptions? I find great comfort in animals they don't talk back, they give love, all they want is food, water and some attention, they do not cause me any heart burn as people do, like my 4 ex wives, or my 3 children, they want nothing to do with me other than call to ask for money. On birthdays and holidays I never see or hear from them, only when it's an emergency when they need something or want something. They blame it on my PTSD and my behavior. Well my animals don't treat me that way, they just are happy to be around and all they want is to be cared for, so my cats and I get along fine. I don't need any doctors to tell me the benefits of having pets.

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