One of the most shocking statistics today is the average rate of 22 suicides a day among U.S. Veterans due to Post Traumatic Stress (PTS). Up to 35% of veterans are estimated to suffer from symptoms of PTS, including nearly 100,000 living in the Carolinas. Traditional treatment with counseling and psychoactive drugs has at best a 25% success rate with alleviating these symptoms which ruin the lives of so many veterans and their families. What if there was an easy and safe treatment with a high success rate available that could help these vets immediately get on the road to recovery? Perhaps there is. Since 2006, Dr. Eugene Lipov, a physician based in Chicago, has experimented with shots of Stellate Ganglion Block in patients exhibiting symptoms of PTS. The drug acts as a biological treatment that “prunes” back the excess nerve growth in the brain found with PTS. Dr. Lipov believes that this excess nerve growth, caused by the original trauma, creates the hyper-sensitivity typical of PTS, including racing heart, sweating, hypervigilance, sleeplessness and disturbing nightmares. Dr. Lipov found that a single shot of the Stellate Ganglion Block (SBG) drug alleviates many of the PTS symptoms, allowing sufferers to regain control of their lives. His treatment, called CB or Chicago Block to indicate the slight differences between it and the traditional SGB treatment for pain – slightly higher and on the left side of the neck – achieved better than a 70%
success rate in the treatment of 1,000 sufferers. His success rate of over 70% has been replicated in small studies at Walter Reed Military Hospital, Tripler Hospital (Hawaii), San Diego Medical Center, and Long Beach VA, treating veterans most severely affected by PTS. In May, Dr. Lipov will present a report on the use of CB treatment for helping suicidal patients to the American Psychiatric Association. Enthusiastic reports on the procedure have appeared in Anesthesiology News, Military Medicine Magazine and other professional publications. Large scale studies on the effects of CB treatment are being led by Johns Hopkins University. The CB treatment for PTS has several advantages: * Symptoms often lessen immediately, and effects are long-lasting * The drug has been used safely since 1926 and is already approved by the FDA for similar conditions * Side effects are few * Cost is far less than that of traditional treatment therapies * Treatment with CB is available without long wait times In fact, veterans and active military with symptoms resulting from PTS may soon be able to receive CB treatment at the first Regional Post-Traumatic Stress Injury Center being established in Charlotte, with
the assistance of Carolina’s Health Care System and the American Anesthesiology Association. Local organizers, led by LTC (ret) Richard Cantwell, are working with the VA and the Dept. of Defense on this project, which will eventually stretch nationwide. Currently funds are being raised so that the treatment can begin immediately for veterans and soldiers at risk. Donations are being handled by the Military Family Lifestyle Charitable Foundation, a local non-profit with
no administrative overhead, which supports and assists other charitable organizations in aiding military families. All donations will go directly to establishing the Regional Post-Traumatic Stress Injury Center and to funding patient treatments. Fight Lab, one of the South’s largest promoters of mixed martial arts (MMA) cage fighting, has joined the effort to raise funds to extend relief to military members and veterans expe-
riencing the effects of PTS. Based in Charlotte, Fight Lab stages numerous matches around the Southeast, including MMA professional bouts at Fort Bragg. On base, company executives have been impressed and moved by the valor and courage of our fighting men and women and of our veterans. Getting behind this promising treatment for PTS is their way of saying THANK YOU.
Nick Lavery American HerO Nick Nick Lavery: Lavery: American American Hero Hero
Staff Sergeant Nick Lavery
was a hero well before he lost his right leg saving a fellow soldier in March 2013. He had been wounded several times since his first deployment to Afghanistan in 2011, taking shrapnel to the shoulder in Oct., 2012. Just a month later was wounded in a roadside bomb attack, but was still able to pull his commanding office to safety from a burning truck. The United States has recognized Lavery’s service with a Silver Star, a Bronze Star with Valor, two Bronze Stars for Service, and three Purple Hearts.
After 20 surgeries and being fitted with a prosthetic leg, Nick returned to service, deciding not to opt for medical retirement. Currently, he’s a tactical combat trainer at Fort Bragg. At 6-foot-6, Staff Sergeant Lavery provides a powerful role model for young soldiers. A football star in high school and college, Nick stays in shape with MMA training. “I started boxing at a young age,” Lavery says. “ I trained in different fighting styles through college and then got into combat-
ives immediately after enlisting. It is something that I have always loved doing. “After I lost my leg I needed to completely reinvent myself as a fighter. I essentially had to unlearn everything I knew. Then modify and adapt it. Then relearn it. My teammates and I work on this relentlessly. It is frustrating yet extremely fulfilling. Fighting is a huge passion of mine and I will continue to drive towards excellence. Always.”