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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