PTSD and Diabetes

Being angry activates the body's fight or flight system. You get an adrenal rush. I have often thought that being angry all the time from abused child PTSD might be a cause of the diabetes "epidemic" we are having. It turns out there is some evidence for that.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Incidence of Type-2 Diabetes: A Prospective Twin Study

Growing evidence has linked posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to insulin resistance and type-2 diabetes, but most previous studies were cross-sectional. We examined the association between PTSD and incidence of diabetes in a prospective study of middle-aged male twins from the Vietnam Era Twin Registry. Lifetime PTSD was diagnosed at baseline with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule (DIS) according to DSM-III-R criteria. Subthreshold PTSD was defined by meeting some, but not all, criteria for PTSD. A total of 4,340 respondents without self-reported diabetes at baseline were included. Of these, 658 reported a new diagnosis of treated diabetes over a median of 19.4 years of follow-up. At baseline, twins with PTSD showed more behavioral and metabolic risk factors such as overweight and hypertension. The age-adjusted cumulative incidence of diabetes was significantly higher in twins with PTSD (18.9%) than those without PTSD (14.4%), [odds ratio (OR)=1.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.03-1.8], and intermediate in those with subthreshold PTSD (16.4%) (OR=1.2, 95% CI 0.9-1.5, p for trend=0.03). Adjustment for military, lifestyle and metabolic factors diminished the association. No significant association was found comparing twin pairs discordant for PTSD. In conclusion, PTSD was prospectively associated with a 40% increased risk of new-onset type-2 diabetes which was partially explained by a cluster of metabolic and behavioral risk factors known to influence insulin resistance. Shared biological or behavioral precursors which occur within families may lead to both PTSD and insulin resistance/diabetes. Thus, PTSD could be a marker of neuroendocrine and metabolic dysregulation which may lead to type-2 diabetes.

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Better Proof - The Government Is Lying About DRUGS

The following discussion is for the endorphin system, whose receptors accept endorphins, opiates, and indirectly alcohol. However there are other routes to dopamine production. But the drugs we have the most trouble with are opiates and alcohol so to keep things simple I'll focus on those.

When it comes to the endorphin system the normal human condition is for the system to have some empty receptors. If the system has all full receptors it grows more. The DEA calls this growth of receptors "addiction". It is not. But we will get to that in a bit. The receptors in the endorphin system are called pain receptors because when enough receptors are empty you feel pain. But it is a continum from bliss - all receptors full, to extreme pain - all receptors empty. The normal human condition is some empty receptors - mild depression - so you can tell if something good happens. More receptors empy causes discomfort and depression. Do something! Then heavy depression. Then pain followed by screaming pain. Do something RIGHT NOW!!! Pain is a continum. And in that vein fillng an empty pain receptor reduces pain - even if it feels like something else (depression).

PTSD is a disorder that amonts to a continuous leak to the endorphin system. The initial trauma can last a lifetime and that means the receptor leak can be long lasting as well. What do people do who feel depressed? They look for relief. People in chronic pain (empty receptors) chronically take pain relievers (opiates, alcohol). Addiction is not caused by drugs. It is caused by pain. What is caused by drugs is Habituation. If you keep your receptors full by continuous drug taking your body will grow more. But that takes weeks and months. Empty receptors is much faster: milliseconds to minutes for the initial trauma and then hours, days, or weeks for the PTSD leak to have an effect. I do have an example.

Dr. Lonny Shavelson found that 70% of female heroin addicts had been sexually abused in childhood.

Drugs fill receptors.
Injury empties receptors. PTSD empties receptors.
Empty receptors are painful.
Filling empty receptors makes you feel good.
Empty receptors create a desire for drugs.
Drugs can not create a desire for drugs.

In America we have a pain problem. A problem with long term pain (PTSD). A problem with child abuse. A problem with soldier and civilian trauma (PTSD). We don't have a Drug problem. That, like Alcohol Prohibition, is a Government caused problem. Denying pain relief is not viable politically or socially or even morally. People will go to great lenghts including defying government to get pain relief.

Other drugs of abuse seem to work similarly but have different pathways. They all affect the dopamine system ultimately.

If you liked this you may like Proof - The Government Is Lying About DRUGS

Donald Trump is a Christian of the Highest Order. He says "Legalize". Which will stop the current abuse of formerly Abused Children.

Addiction, a medical condition, is a crime in America.

Social Problems Caused by Child Abuse.


People in chronic pain chronically take pain relievers. - This is a crime if your pain is not authorized.



Update: 18 April 2024 - 2209z

I just found this CNN news clip from 2021 : Biden administration drug czar says it’s time to treat drug addiction like a chronic disease.


============

A better popular understanding of the biology will help end the war on people in pain. Please pass this around. Help end the persecutions.













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Addiction, a medical condition, is a crime in America.

Addiction, a medical condition, is a crime in America.

Isn't it past time it wasn't?








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The Party of Abused Children

I have been calling Democrats that for at least a decade. Drug use, sexual deviance, and displaced rage are the expected symptoms.

The displaced rage means the 'issues' are not the issue. Rage is all their issues have in common.

We are not fighting politics. We are fighting mental illness. Have you ever seen that diagnosis before? It is pretty obvious isn't it? Yet every one treats the xxx issue (think trans 'women' in sports as an example) as if it were rational and just a matter of logic to resolve.

No one calls out the mental illness. To do that you need a way to decide. Not just hand waving. Abused child PTSD fits. When I had it I was a determined Democrat.

"That is crazy" will normally be enough of a rebuttal if people think of the current Democrat Party as a collection of crazies. Well, aren't they?


Also in the series:
The Role of PTSD in History
We are fighting a mental illness







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The Role of PTSD in History

Abused child PTSD causes narcissism and displaced rage - the "issues" are not the issue. It is a mental illness. Hitler was an abused child. Marx was an abused child. Stalin was an abused child. Putin is an abused child. Their rage from the abuse destroys their morals. The anger is the disease.

Some abused children crave power and control, which is why there are so many in politics. We are not confronting a political party or a political philosphy, despite there being so many bad ones. We are facing a mental illness. Abused child PTSD and the associated displaced rage and narcissism.

Drug abuse and sexual deviance are other possible side effects. Medical schools in America teach - addiction is a symptom of PTSD. Marx had a drug problem. Hitler was a secret addict.

"Inside Every Progressive Is An Abused Child Screaming To Get Out" - at one time I was both.

From my own personal experience - every gang member I knew, when I was in one, was an abused child. No one in criminal justice ever remarks on that. Some of them must know.

Long term PTSD (everyone gets it short term) is in part genetic. The other part is the initiating trauma. Me? I'm no longer an abused child, haven't been for about 50 years, I gave up my anger.

Should you have the problem the simplest advice I can give is ==> The Anger IS the Disease.

"The Fourth Way" by P.D. Ouspensky helped me a lot. You can probably skip all the 'magical universes' stuff and stick to the healing recipes. One of which is "Do Not Express Negative Emotions" because it reinforces them and you don't want them anymore. That Hitler guy was full of them.


Also in the series:
We are fighting a mental illness
The Party of Abused Children







Update: 13 October 2024 09:15z

I was looking back at some of my old posts and came across this ==> PTSD Is A Spiritual Disease, where I discussed how I cleaned up mine.







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October 7th - We are fighting a mental illness

My guess is that all the 7 Oct attackers were abused children. Ordinary people cannot generate that kind of murderous rage. They displaced their anger (displacement is very common with abused child PTSD) on the people their religion told them to.

War as displaced anger? Hitler was an abused child.

It is also a problem with politics.

If you look closely at Democrats, their policies are driven by mental illness (PTSD caused by child abuse). They have the symptoms. Sexual deviance. Drug use. Permanently angry. We treat them as at least somewhat rational. They are not rational. They are mentally ill.

Proof they are not rational? Their policies are incoherent. “Gays for Palestine”.

America is being made a victim of displaced rage (a PTSD symptom). Rage is what their issues have in common.

I know all this because I used to be an abused child (I gave up my anger).

"Inside Every Progressive Is An Abused Child Screaming To Get Out"

Some people with PTSD crave power and control. (the German guy for one, Stalin for another) - That would be most politicians. Which is why politics is so dysfunctional.

===

My theory of war - PTSD builds up in a society. War is then used to kill off the violent PTSD (men).

To head off war - treat the PTSD.

We are fighting a mental illness - Part 1


Update: 15 Dec 2023 0934z

I want to add here a few examples of current events, US politics, and PTSD:

Medical schools in America teach - addiction is a symptom of PTSD. PTSD is in part genetic - as are most mental illnesses. Donald Trump's brother died of alcoholism. So likely Trump - who shuns alcohol - has PTSD as well.

Joe B. ? Look at his kids. If he did the job on them (as reported) then it was very likely done to him. Probably his wife Jill is one or has the genes. People with PTSD are attracted to each other. (I speak from experience)

How about those Florida Republicans into threesomes? Deviant sex is a symptom of PTSD.

And then of course Putin - a known abused child and Xi a known alcoholic.

It is everywhere in politics which is full of alcoholics and deviant sex. Epstein turned that into a career.

PTSD (most often caused by child abuse these days) is everywhere in politics. Ever hear it remarked on? Me either.

Modern feminism was designed by abused children. The man hatred is a tell. As I said, "Everywhere in politics."


===

So you may be wondering how did I fix my PTSD? I read P. D. Ouspensky's "The Fourth Way" and applied it.

The simplest explanation? The Anger IS the Disease - give it up.




Update: 17 Dec 2023 0144z

Karl Marx was an abused child. He likely had abused child PTSD. His early drug use is confirmation of that. People with abused child PTSD have to deal with displaced anger, narcissism and rage. "The world owes me a living" is one way the narcissim gets expressed. PTSD is a mental illness.




Update: 08 Mar 2024 2254z
Some stories about the pervasiveness of the Islamic abuse of boys. If I was to design a religion for abused boys it would be quite a lot like Islam. Some place to direct and discharge the anger. Jews. Infidels. No drugs or alcohol means no relief other than taking out the anger on Jews and infidels.





Update: 02 Oct 2024 1442z

I wrote an updated look at Islam amd Child Abuse at Is Arab hatred for Israel a product of the child abuse normative in the Arab world?




Also in the series:
The Role of PTSD in History
The Party of Abused Children















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We are fighting a mental illness

I just got a one day suspension from YouTube for posting this:

We are not up against a political party. We are up against a mental illness. Abused child PTSD and the associated displaced anger and narcissism.

Do you suppose there is something to it? The only thing Democrat issues have in common is anger. And for a prime historical example of the type: Hitler was an abused child.





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Another Government Road Block

The Department Of Health and Human Services (it has very little to do with health and is into denying services) has denied permission for an FDA approved study of cannabis for treating PTSD.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has blocked a pilot study to examine the benefits of marijuana for veterans with treatment-resistant post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The study was sponsored by the nonprofit research organization the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), and would have been conducted by Dr. Sue Sisley of the University of Arizona at Phoenix.

“Hundreds of veterans in medical marijuana states already report using marijuana to control their PTSD symptoms,” MAPS said in a statement. “The growing number of service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with combat-related trauma combined with large numbers of treatment-resistant veterans highlights the pressing need for research into additional treatments for PTSD.”

It seems the Federales have an impenetrable wall to keep this reseach on cannabis from getting done.

The Drug Enforcement Administration has denied researchers requests to obtain licenses to grow marijuana, claiming that the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) — overseen by the HHS — can be the only one to supply marijuana for Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-regulated research.

Clever boys.

It seems like actual veterans are taking matters into their own hands. Green leafy matters.

“My life went downhill from the moment I came back from Iraq,” Begin, now a 31-year-old veteran, tells Danger Room. “Doctors at Bethesda had me on so much, and on such high doses of everything, that I didn’t even know what was a symptom and what was a side effect.”

At one point, Begin, diagnosed with PTSD shortly after coming home, was taking more than 100 pills a day. So many that he would stuff dozens of bottles into a backpack to lug everywhere he went. Now, he’s cut his dependency on prescriptions to zero. Their replacement? Five joints a day.

“Using marijuana balances me out,” he says. “It takes those peaks and valleys of PTSD and it softens them. It makes my life manageable.”

Begin’s now launched an online petition asking the feds to change their course on marijuana as a treatment for PTSD. In September, the first-ever study proposed to evaluate marijuana as a potential treatment for PTSD was blocked by officials at the National Institutes on Drug Abuse (NIDA). With an estimated 37 percent of this generation’s vets afflicted with PTSD, and a dearth of effective treatment options available, Begin thinks pot deserves, at the very least, a single study.

He is not the only veteran who thinks that cannabis ought to be an official medicine. I wrote about Jamey Raines recently.

And what do you know? Our friends the Israelis are on the case.

D., a 26-year-old woman from the north of Israel, says she began to suffer from nightmares about seven years ago, after her partner raped her. After undergoing various forms of therapy, she thought she had largely put the trauma behind her. Then, two years ago, she chanced to see the rapist not far from her home. The nightmares came swarming back.

"I fell into a depression that went on until not long ago, during which I hardly slept or ate," she says in a quiet voice. "My whole life turned upside down. I left my job. Everything came to a stop. I went back to taking antidepressants and tranquilizers - Cipralex, Lustral and Prozac; sleeping pills that made me addicted. It was a nightmare. There was no way I could get through the day without those pills. Then I discovered cannabis."

So war trauma is not the only way to get PTSD? Maybe that explains why 70% of female Heroin users report being sexually attacked. When they were children. Too bad no famous sports figures (in so far as we know) are involved. Too bad we can't figure a way to give such kids a pass. Until we figure out better ways to help them heal. Currently a long slow process that is not a sure thing.

H/T Drug Policy Forum of Texas

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Veteran's PTSD Treatment Currently Inadequate

The New York Times reports.

Drugs widely prescribed to treat severe post-traumatic stress symptoms for veterans are no more effective than placebos and come with serious side effects, including weight gain and fatigue, researchers reported on Tuesday.

The surprising finding, from the largest study of its kind in veterans, challenges current treatment standards so directly that it could alter practice soon, some experts said.

Ten percent to 20 percent of those who see heavy combat develop lasting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, and about a fifth of those who get treatment receive a prescription for a so-called antipsychotic medication, according to government numbers.

The new study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, focused on one medication, Risperdal. But experts said that its results most likely extend to the entire class, including drugs like Seroquel, Geodon and Abilify.

“I think it’s a very important study” given how frequently the drugs have been prescribed, said Dr. Charles Hoge, a senior scientist at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, who was not involved in the study but wrote an editorial accompanying it. He added, “It definitely calls into question the use of antipsychotics in general for PTSD.”

Links at the article.

Maybe this explains the recent FDA approval of a study of the effectiveness of marijuana for the treatment of PTSD. Of course the DEA hasn't given its stamp of approval to the study so it is only a paper study so far. Despite the fact that information like this has been around for over 5 years: PTSD and the Endocannabinoid System.

I look forward to my statist social conservative friends screaming bloody murder to our government because our vets are not getting the best treatment known to man (so far) for the condition. Say. Who am I kidding? What am I smoking? Fighting dopers is way more important than treating our veterans. Or other victims of PTSD. Like abused children. Letting abused children suffer is OK as long as it keeps one doper from getting his dope. After all it is for the children. So I'm told. Like every day lately by a certain friend of mine.

So what religion is in the trenches fighting this injustice? The Damn Jews. Reform Jews had a year of outreach on the subject of medical marijuana.

"...members cited Jewish tradition as well as contemporary medicine. "According to our tradition," read the resolution, "a physician is obligated to heal the sick." The resolution cited Maimonides as the Talmudic authority. Less authoritative for the association was the state of research on medical marijuana."

And the Orthodox? They are selling the stuff. Like Einstein I'm not much of a Jew. And like him I am very proud to be a part of the Jewish tradition.

Heck even the Ron Paul site likes the Jews on this one. What you are about to read next will probably stir a LOT of cognitive dissonance. It did for me. BTW it is spelled Mitzvah buddy. You should have had a Jew give your article a once over.

Both Orthodox and Reform Jews believe Marijuana is a Mitvah. A Mitvah holds all the weight of the commandments. A Jew is Obliged to Disobey the Law to fulfill a Mitvah as a mandate of the faith.

Marijuana must be rescheduled to schedule 3 per Federal Law, yet the Republican leadership through the Attorney General , Secretary of State, and President and Party Platform have continued to pursue a draconian policy straight out of the inquisition.

Marijuana is NOT a 3rd Rail Issue. The Party Leadership have however been brainwashed and pursue that perfiduous programming with great zeal completely ignoring and distorting Federal Law. While Frankly Torturing and Murdering Sick People

And that Federal rescheduling he talks about? That would be the proper response to the DEA Judge Young Decision.

I'm still wondering about all that Judeo-Christianity I have heard so much about. From what I see there is a lot of Judeo and not much Christianity. Perhaps the Anointed One will come back and fix what He started.

H/T Drug Policy Forum of Texas

Cross Posted at Classical Values

The US Military, Cannabis And PTSD

It appears that some former militarly people are supporting the use of cannabis for PTSD.

Cannabis Science, a Colorado Springs marijuana pharmaceutical company, has formed a military advisory board featuring military officials to advocate for easing restrictions on injured veterans who want to use marijuana for relief.

The advisory board will be comprised of retired U.S. Army Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Sullivan and other folks who know there way around the Department of Defense, Department of Veterans Affairs, the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury and the Department of Health and Human Services. As Sullivan noted in a release, "The military advisory board is committed to ensuring service members, veterans and families who are dealing with psychological health conditions such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and traumatic brain injury (TBI) challenges have access to all options of quality treatments available." According to Sullivan, cannabis has been proven to help veterans struggling with chronic and phantom limb pain, sleep disturbance, brain injuries, PTSD, anxiety and depression.

The effort is the brainchild of Cannabis Science president Robert Melamede, PhD., a University of Colorado at Colorado Springs professor and longtime proponent of the "Endocannabinoid System," the concept that marijuana contains components that regulate many different body functions.

The Endocannabinoid system is not just a concept. It is a fact. All you have to do is look up the CB1 receptor and the CB2 receptor to learn a whole lot more. You can also read:

PTSD and the Endocannabinoid System

Police and PTSD

FDA To Study Cannabis For PTSD

Of course military people are not the only ones suffering from PTSD. But they came by it honorably: war vs child abuse. You can find out more about that at:

Heroin

And just for all you libertarians out there:

DRUG WAR = BIG GOVERNMENT

FDA To Study Cannabis For PTSD

The video is not directly applicable to the subject at hand. It does feature one of the premier researchers in the field, Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, who's work I discussed in a 2006 article PTSD and the Endocannabinoid System.

So what about the FDA?

PTSD is an extremely difficult medical condition to treat, and it currently effects around 7.8 percent of Americans. It is caused by exposure to dangerous and highly stressful situations, which can result in lasting symptoms that include disturbing flashbacks, distressful emotions, panic attacks, and nightmares.

On April 28th the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted MAPS' protocol design for their study of cannabis as a treatment for symptoms of PTSD in war veterans. This approval from the FDA represents another important step forward in PTSD research, although there is still a major hurdle to overcome before the research can actually begin. The FDA stated that MAPS’ current protocol successfully addresses all of their concerns, as long as the researchers can obtain cannabis for the study.

There is one slight problem. They have to get the marijuana from the government. And the government doesn't like to give pot to researchers who might undermine the drug war. There is a lot of money and a lot of jobs riding on the continuation of the drug war.

There is an interesting statistic in the above article excerpt. The statistic? About 7.8% of all Americans have PTSD. What is 7.8% of 310 million? About 24 million. That is right in line with government estimates that there are 30 million regular pot users in America. As I have been saying for years. The drug war is how we in America punish the traumatized. Like war veterans.

But the pot-versus-Post Traumatic Stress Disorder study is not happening yet.

According to California-based MAPS, the notoriously finicky National Institute on Drug Abuse -- apparently the only place to get legal weed for a federally approved study -- has to agree to sell some pot to researchers.

Sounds to us like MAPS isn't optimistic. It calls NIDA "a very different agency with explicitly political motivations and a monopoly on marijuana for research."

The study would ponder whether cannabis "can help reduce PTSD symptoms in fifty veterans with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)."

There is anecdotal evidence from Omaha in the efficacy of pot for PTSD.

The focus, they say, is marijuana's medical abilities and why anyone who's sick should be free to use it.

"I don't need to medicate with pharmaceutical drugs that make me feel nauseous or sick. It alleviates all of my symptoms of PTSD," says Diana Wulf.

I guess I should explain how we got tens of millions of pot users when we only have a few million veterans of combat. Child abuse.

That is not the only drug used to treat PTSD according to Oprah Magazine MDMA more commonly known by its street name Ecstasy can also be useful.

On a February day in 2005, Sarah is reclining on a futon beneath a skylight, with Michael and Ann Mithoefer seated on either side of her. A half-hour earlier, Sarah swallowed a yellow capsule containing 125 milligrams of MDMA, and relaxing instrumental music plays softly as she waits, eyes closed, for the drug to take hold. The first signs are ripples of nausea—she thinks she might throw up, yet she also senses her body relaxing. The usual ringing in her ears vanishes. "That constant hyperawareness of my environment—it was receding," she says now.

At this point, she heard "the grinding of a pen." The sound of the nib bearing down on the page was magnified, "like it was hurting the paper, beating and pounding on it," Sarah recalls. In the alternate reality of MDMA, she says, "I thought Michael was drawing circles around me, making fun of me, laughing at me. I felt the anger rising in my body. I opened my eyes and—he was just sitting there, taking notes."

It was an epiphany. "That's the moment when I discovered that my perception and reality were not always the same," Sarah recalls. She'd assumed that her caretaker was jeering at her, that she was an object of scorn and derision—a painful conditioned response imprinted by an abusive childhood. Sarah always had an intellectual grasp of how her early years had shaped her, "but this was physiological," she recalls. "That's when I knew I had to repair the connections, the chemicals that had gotten all screwed up when I was a kid."

So what about all the horror stories we hear about long term MDMA use? Bunk according to a study funded by one agency of our very own government.

New research suggests that the drug Ecstasy -- used on its own -- does not have residual effects on brain performance, according to a study published this week in the journal Addiction.

The Santa Cruz-based Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies [MAPS -ed] contributed $15,000 for an initial 2004 study on Ecstasy use. That work led to a $1.8 million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse that was spearheaded by John Halpern of Harvard Medical School.

The Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies has been conducting research on potential use of Ecstasy to treat post-traumatic stress disorder, and researchers said the new study likely would prompt more research and understanding of the drug.

So will we ever treat drugs rationally? Not as long as there is so much money in it. There are tens of billions maybe hundreds of billions to be made from exploiting the traumatized. Best yet we have convinced most of them and the vast majority of Americans that it is their own fault. Drugs are bad don't you know? Well I don't know it. What i know is that some people chronically take pain relievers for chronic pain. A pain in the brain so there are rarely any wounds to validate the pain. So we don't have armies of traumatized people in America. We have dirty drug fiends who deserve what ever punishments that can be meted out to them.

Here is one doctors take on all that.

No recruit ever considered that basic training would be easy, and in a time of war, they quickly discover that combat is a far cry from Hollywood’s portrayal. Reality is what it is. Dr. Phil Leveque knows this to be true. He served in the US Army and lived through World War II- and bears the scars within to this day.

“We were psychologically and physically stretched beyond normal limits and many recruits died. A bunch more were permanently psychologically damaged and the end result was PTSD even during training.”

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a severe anxiety disorder which can occur after witnessing or experiencing even one traumatic event, especially when it involves injury or death, or the threat thereof, so being in a war takes that trauma to new levels. It is important to note that PTSD can be, and usually is, a long term/lifetime problem.

A recent report estimated that up to 40% of the Middle East veterans would be victims of combination of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).

Maybe more.

As a regular general practice physician and later as a marijuana doctor, Dr. Leveque saw the devastating results of the effects on veterans for generations.

Frequently, during the post-trauma time, with no better idea at hand, Dr. Leveque says that many PTSD patients discover that alcohol “drowns ones sorrows”.

Also during this post-trauma time, some caregiver will say to himself,”let’s treat this patient’s PTSD” and here come a mélange of medications. The various and numerous treatments leave very much to be desired; in fact their treatments have far more failures than successes.

“Those same pseudo-doctors and paper-pushers decry the use of marijuana,” says Dr. Leveque. “The veterans use it preferentially, to the zombifying and/or addicting drugs prescribed wholesale by those ’caregivers’, who then blame the victim for using a medication which works: Marijuana.” Dr. Leveque was convinced that there was a better way. And in the state of Oregon, it was so.

“I was asked by a healthcare professional at the Portland VA Hospital if I would help PTSD Veteran Victims to get permits to use legalized medical marijuana. I already had some Veteran patients from WWII, Korea and Vietnam, so I obliged.

“Within two weeks I had more than 50 Nam Vets requesting my help. As part of their medical history I asked what previous medicines they had been given or prescribed.

“There were two main types: strong pain killers (like Oxycontin, Morphine and every related pain killer), and anti-depressants.

“I was flabbergasted to read the anti-depressant list of many patients; Paxil, Zoloft, Prozac, Lexapro, on through the whole list of about 12; but nothing shocked me like the dangers they admit to! The US Food & Drug Administration (FDA) says they can cause very bad adverse side effects including anxiety, depression, addiction, severe withdrawal, homicidal rage and suicide.”

It makes one wonder why they should be given to a psychologically fragile PTSD patient.

I wrote an article on why the pharmaceutical companies might be anti-pot back in 2002 in my article Addiction or Self Medication? In it I said:

It turns out that anxiety disorders are the most common mental health problem in the United States. They are worth $46 billion a year to the pharmaceutical industry. You don't suppose this fact has any thing to do with the pharmaceutical industries being in the forefront of the Drug Free America campaign do you? Of course not. They are just trying to keep you from being addicted to natural products at the cost of 1/10th of a cent per dose when they are more than willing to sell you an FDA and doctor approved, pharmacy sold product that will do the job for a dollar a dose. They have only your best interests at heart. Just ask their accountants.

I have been looking around and what do you know? The above video might be relevant after all according to this article on the forthcoming MAPS study.

The study also calls for veterans to smoke weed with differing levels of active cannabinoids THC and CBD to determine if one, the other, or a balance of both proves more effective. Veterans will also either smoke or vaporize the plant to better test effects from different administrations of the drug.

Doblin said he was surprised that the FDA approved the study. He did not think the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) had the appropriate CBD-rich pot for the study, and that would force the FDA to reject it. NIDA controls the one federally legal pot farm in the nation, which is based in Mississippi and provides government-grown pot to a handful of federal patients, as well as researchers approved by the Drug Enforcement Administration.

But if history is any guide, NIDA will ultimately block the FDA-approved study from ever happening, said Doblin. NIDA must approve all research on pot, and their political goal is to ensure it never becomes legal, he said. NIDA states on its web site that it believes smoked marijuana is not a medicine, despite more than three thousand years of recorded medicinal use.

We have a government that is actively working against the American people and for the cartels - legal and illegal. So what else is new?

What can be done about all this? Gary Johnson for President. And guess what? Willie Nelson endorses Johnson. I think that speaks for itself. But how about a few words from the article?

Ron Paul has classified marijuana as a states' rights issue; Johnson, on the other hand, calls for outright legalization.

I like Ron Paul on quite a few issues but he is so last century. A man once ahead of his time who is now falling behind the times. Good. Because I'm tired of a drug war that finances criminals at home and terrorists abroad. Not to mention punishing the traumatized.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Underground In Las Vegas

There are people living in the flood tunnel system under Las Vegas.

Further into the maze are Amy and Junior who married in the Shalimar Chapel – one of Vegas’s most popular venues - before returning to the tunnels for their honeymoon.

They lost their home when they became addicted to drugs after the death of their son Brady at four months old.

‘I heard Las Vegas was a good place for jobs,’ Amy said. ‘But it was tough and we started living under the staircase outside the MGM casino.

‘Then we met a guy who lived in the tunnels. We’ve been down here ever since.’

Matthew O’Brien, a reporter who stumbled across the tunnel people when he was researching a murder case, has set up The Shine A Light foundation to help.

‘These are normal people of all ages who’ve lost their way, generally after a traumatic event,’ he said.

‘Many are war veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress.

It is really shameful the way we treat people with personal problems in the US. If they take drugs for relief we hound them into jail if we can find them. But that is not the only problem.

PTSD treatment for returned soldiers is haphazard at best.

In his last months alive, Senior Airman Anthony Mena rarely left home without a backpack filled with medications.

He returned from his second deployment to Iraq complaining of back pain, insomnia, anxiety and nightmares. Doctors diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder and prescribed powerful cocktails of psychiatric drugs and narcotics.

Yet his pain only deepened, as did his depression. “I have almost given up hope,” he told a doctor in 2008, medical records show. “I should have died in Iraq.”

Airman Mena died instead in his Albuquerque apartment, on July 21, 2009, five months after leaving the Air Force on a medical discharge. A toxicologist found eight prescription medications in his blood, including three antidepressants, a sedative, a sleeping pill and two potent painkillers.

Yet his death was no suicide, the medical examiner concluded. What killed Airman Mena was not an overdose of any one drug, but the interaction of many. He was 23.

It breaks my heart to see this. But that is not the only such story.

...the military came under criticism a decade ago for not prescribing enough medications, particularly for pain. In its willingness to prescribe more readily, the Pentagon was trying to meet standards similar to civilian medicine, General Chiarelli said.

But the response of modern psychiatry to modern warfare has not always been perfect. Psychiatrists still do not have good medications for the social withdrawal, nightmares and irritability that often accompany post-traumatic stress, so they mix and match drugs, trying to relieve symptoms.

“These decisions about medication are difficult enough in civilian psychiatry, but unfortunately in this very-high-stress population, there is almost no data to guide you,” said Dr. Ranga R. Krishnan, a psychiatrist at Duke University. “The psychiatrist is trying everything and to some extent is flying blind."

They are all flying blind - civilian and military doctors alike.

Worse - our government actively hampers the use of one of the safest drugs known to man for relief of PTSD symptoms. I have written about it at length. Here are some of the articles:

PTSD and the Endocannabinoid System

The Soldiers Disease

Is Addiction Real?

Police and PTSD

PTSD Pot Alcohol & Substance Abuse

PTSD is not just a problem for combat vets: Heroin.

And where opiate use is necessary marijuana can reduce the required dose.

Medical marijuana can help pain patients in many ways. Using cannabis as an adjunct medicine can help opiate pain meds work better. Medical marijuana can successfully treat pain and help lower the overall dose of narcotics, something that is healthy for the patient.

It would be very useful if military doctors could use marijuana to reduce the required opiate dose. Unfortunately military doctors are not allowed to have anything to do with medical marijuana. There are Federal Laws against pot dontcha know.

I would love it if the Government wised up about all this. But first the people are going to have to demand it. We are not quite there yet. And that is very sad.

Here are a few books on the subject:

Marijuana Medical Handbook: Practical Guide to Therapeutic Uses of Marijuana

Marijuana Horticulture: The Indoor/Outdoor Medical Grower's Bible

Understanding Marijuana: A New Look at the Scientific Evidence

Medical Marijuana 101: Everything They Told You Is Wrong

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Treatment Denied

A why is treatment denied? Because it is unavailable. So reports the Army Times.

Treatment, not incarceration, should be the first option for veterans who commit nonviolent drug-related offenses, a group advocating alternatives to the nation’s “war on drugs” said Wednesday in a new report.

The Drug Policy Alliance report [pdf] also called on government agencies to adopt overdose prevention programs and policies for vets who misuse substances or take prescription medicines, and urged “significantly expanded” access to medication-assisted therapies, such as methadone and buprenorphine, for the treatment of dependence on opioid drugs used to treat pain and mood disorders.

Now that is a change. People use drugs to change their minds. Or at least how their minds make them feel. I wonder if they are suggesting that idea because it is now more acceptable? Addiction or self medication?

Those close to the issue point out that about 30 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan war vets report symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, depression or other mental illness or cognitive disability, and that 19 percent of veterans who have received care from the Veterans Affairs Department have been diagnosed with substance abuse or dependence.

Guy Gambill, an Army veteran and advocate for veterans’ rights who took part in the conference call, noted that one of the hallmarks of PTSD “is a tendency to self-medicate. People do that with drugs, people do that with alcohol.”

In my article originally published in 2002, Addiction or Self Medication?, I voted for self medication. I guess it is catching on. Took 'em long enough.

H/T Drug Policy Forum of Texas

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Heard Around the 'Net

Major Nidal Malik Hasan suffers from pre Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Passing The Smell Test

Anxiety Insights reports that the inability to identify odors may be an indication of severe PTSD.

A world first study of Vietnam veterans' sense of smell has revealed that an inability to identify smells indicates extreme symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Researchers from the University of Melbourne and Austin Health conducting smell tests on 31 male war veterans with PTSD, recruited from Austin Health's Veterans Psychiatry Unit.

"The worse their ability to be able to name a smell, in a smell test of over 40 'scratch and sniff' odors, the harder it is to manage their emotions," said John Dileo of the University's School of Behavioral Science, who conducted the study.

Dileo says that the difficulty Vietnam veterans suffering PTSD have in putting the name to a smell may be indicative of weakness in brain pathways related to emotional processing. He says the same areas in the frontal region of the brain that are involved in identifying smells are also involved in regulating emotion.

Of course a sample size of 31 is not very definitive. It is about the smallest sample size where Gaussian statistics apply. The results are interesting and definitely warrant a larger study.

There is a connection between the amygdala, smell, and memory.

Here is something I wrote a while back on the connection between the amygdala, PTSD, and fear memories. PTSD and the Endocannabinoid System. Here is one about PTSD Pot Alcohol & Substance Abuse.

We are really closing in on PTSD. I think a time will come when we realize the utter stupidity of making war on the self medicating.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Will The Real Cause Of Addiction Please Stand Up?

I just got a comment on my piece Capitalism, Pain, and The War On Drugs. My commenter is long on ignorance and short on facts.

First of all, in order to prove that drug addiction is inherited, one would need to identify the gene responsible. So much for that theory. My opinion: bullshit.

Some of the genes have been identified. You can read about them: Genetic Discrimination Note that I wrote that in Dec of '05. We know more now than we did then.

In addition the NIDA says Addiction Is A Genetic Disease.

So right away you are on weak ground. i.e. the government says you are full of it.

Second, just because people with problems tend to have drug problems says nothing about drugs themselves.Logic is not commutative, unless one is willing to assume that cause and effect are interchangeable. Then again, conservatives often rely on religious mysticism for intellectual guidance, to the chagrin of physicists around the globe.

Funny thing is, I was a physics major in college and spent a major portion of my career as an aerospace engineer. One step short of rocket scientist.

The NIDA says that besides genetics there is some kind of envionmental trigger. I believe that trigger is trauma. I cover that in Heroin.

Third, PTSD is such a novel concept that there is no reliable information about it, never mind a genetic test for susceptibility to it.

PTSD is not a nebulous concept. It is about fear memories. Here is a study on the subject: Fear memories, the amygdala, and the CB1 receptor done at the Max Planck Institute in Germany.

Further we have research by the discoverer of the CB1 receptor, Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, that looks at PTSD and the Endocannabinoid System and explains the applicability of the mice studies to humans.

In addition a genetic test is being developed for PTSD by the very same discoverer of the CB1 receptor: A Test For PTSD.

Fourth, most 'graduates' of AA go on to become responsible social drinkers. Some day I must find out how they managed to alter their genomes. Did asking Christ into their hearts do it?

Well no. It is actually explained by Fear memories, the amygdala, and the CB1 receptor. Fear memories decay over time. The rate of decay is variable and is genetically dependent. No need to go to AA meetings or asking Christ into your heart. Just wait and try to keep youself comfortable while the fear memories decline. (Any way I'm pretty much Jewish and claim that you only need to go to the head man, but that is a minor theological dispute.) The science is out there for any one truly interested in the subject. It amazes me that with research so easy in these internet days so few people avail themselves of the opportunity.

Finally our friendly commenter finishes with:

But then, I am just a radical lefty liberal, with no credibility, so go ahead and ignore me.

I will assume you are correct in your self description - radical lefty liberal. I also agree that you have no credibility. However, you are not being ignored. Just ridiculed for you ignorance. As usual for a lefty you are weak on science, strong on opinion, and unwilling to put your name (not even a pseudonym) next to your opinions. My condolences.

Get Ready To Celebrate

Brain Awareness Week March 12 - 18 will soon be upon us. We ahould be aware of our brains because without brains we wouldn't be aware of our brains. Cause enough to celebrate.

Brain Awareness Week, 12 - 18 March 2007, is an international effort organized by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives to advance public awareness about the progress and benefits of brain research. The Dana Alliance is joined in the campaign by partners in the United States and around the world, including medical and research organizations; patient advocacy groups; the National Institutes of Health, and other government agencies; service groups; hospitals and universities; K-12 schools; and professional organizations.

For scientists, it is an opportunity to let people know what is being done to diagnose, treat and prevent disorders of the brain such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, stroke, schizophrenia and depression, which affect the lives of millions of people.

For schools, charities, hospitals - and even arts organizations - it is the chance to reveal some of the mysteries of the brain.

Around the world, hundreds of public events to inspire interest in the brain are staged as part of Brain Awareness Week, to draw attention to what is being accomplished in scientific laboratories, and provide information about the brain that everyone can understand.

My main interest is not cognition. I'm interested in brain malfunctions such as PTSD and schizophrenia. For both of those genetics accounts for about 1/2 of the cause. The other half for PTSD is trauma. Especially emotional trauma. For schizophrenia the trigger is likely to be the same.

So there you have it, a celebration and a few easily understood facts. Happy Brain Week.

Childhood Trauma Leads To Depression

Anxiety Insights has a post up about childhood trauma and its relation to depression.

Childhood trauma, but not adult trauma, is strongly associated with depression and coronary heart disease in adulthood, say Emory University researchers and colleagues presenting at the American Psychosomatic Society Annual Meeting, being held March 7-10 in Budapest, Hungary.

"Little is known about the long-term emotional and physical consequences of childhood trauma and whether it poses greater long-term health risks than other types of stressors," says study leader Viola Vaccarino, MD, PhD, professor of medicine (cardiology) at Emory University School of Medicine and professor of epidemiology at Emory's Rollins School of Public Health.

"Trauma occurring earlier in life is particularly harmful because it may disrupt the development of adaptive responses to stress. Future research on stress and disease should focus on early life stress," says Dr. Vaccarino.

Child abuse is one of the most pressing problems we have in the world because it leads to all kinds of maladaptive behavior and can also lead to illegal drug use as a form of self medication.

According to the study results, twins in the highest quartile of the Early Trauma Inventory were twice as likely to have major depressive disorder than other twins. Of the childhood traumas, emotional trauma was the most strongly associated with major depressive disorder.

Study participants with childhood trauma were also more likely to be exposed to trauma as adults and to develop post traumatic stress disorder. After adjusting for smoking, twins in the highest group on the inventory were two to three times more likely to have a previous diagnosis of coronary heart disease, including previous myocardial infarction, coronary revascularization and hospitalizations for coronary heart disease.

In contrast, no significant associations were found for adult general trauma and combat trauma with either major depressive disorder or coronary heart disease, notes Dr. Vaccarino.

Tobacco is an anti-depressant. So is cannabis.

We are wasting untold billions every year fighting drugs when we should be dealing with the root cause - child abuse.

Politicobiology

Commenter passerby took exception to some of the things I said in The Origins Of Islamic Rage. Here is my reply to his question about the rise of tribalism in the west. I don't actually answer his question (directly), but I do look at what I consider a subset of sociobiology - politicobiology.

===

As long as we are human we will have the alpha male problem.

If you look at human history - freedom is not much in evidence. No matter how desireable for the individual it is unusual. It takes effort.

Tribalism is the natural state of humankind. It is what you would expect from genetics. The closer the genetic connection, the more trust given to the individual.

A place or a world where Jewish/Christian values predominate is a better world in my opinion. "All men are created equal" is an anti-tribalist statement. However, it is not natural. The Islamics are correct. Their system is more in accord with humans as they exist in a state of nature.

As to the sexual theories etc. You need to look into my work on PTSD. Start with:

Heroin

PTSD and the Endocannabinoid System

Men with PTSD are more prone to violence than men without. Sexual assault on children is a good way of creating a person with long term PTSD problems (providing the genetics are correct).

If violence against children is endemic, you then have a resevoir of angry males for jihad. i.e. some one has to pay for the torment of the individual. Since we are genetically biased against looking at the evil of our parents it then must be ascribed to some outside source.

When we start getting the connection between biology and politics (monkey politics) we will get better political systems.

When Kissenger said "Power is the ultimate aphrodisiac" he wasn't kidding. That is only one example of the relation between biology and politics.

Sociobiology is more or less accepted. What I am looking at is a subset of that. Politicobiology. Thus, power and control.

My recent piece on drug prohibition It Was Never About The Drugs is another example of NORMAL human behavior. Dividing the ins from the outs.

Or try How To Put An End To Drug Users. Which discusses (in a round about way) how the impulse for genocide is wired into the human system. It discusses how that wiring is activated.

So near to the gods. So close to the devils. Between heaven and hell.

Why? Because, Power and Control gives a reproductive advantage.

Politicobiology explains why there will always be an opposition party. It is the way we are wired.

Cross Posted at Classical Values

Father of PTSD diagnosis dies

PTSD Combat has an article about the inventor of the PTSD diagnosis.

The man whom I would call the 'Father of Modern Combat PTSD Diagnosis' is dead at the age of 80. Dr. Leonard Neff was a WWII veteran and psychiatrist who'd begun working with Vietnam veterans in the early 1970's. He rose to prominence in dramatic fashion when, in 1974, he persuaded a returning veteran who'd taken hostages to release them following 3 hours of negotiations. The event raised public awareness of the plight of many soldiers returning from Vietnam; it also led Neff to push to include a definition of what today is known as posttraumatic stress disorder to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

Go and read it all with links to more. As you know combat PTSD has been one of my interests. I have written a few piecies about it:

Aftermath

The Soldiers Disease

Cannabis is the Best Medicine

PTSD and the Endocannabinoid System


PTSD, Veterans, War, Disabled Veterans, Drug War, Cannabis, Endocannabinoid, Combat Stress, Soldiers Disease