Military/Veterans

Know Pain Know Gain: proposing a treatment approach for phantom limb pain
Phantom limb pain affects between 50 and 80% of amputees. With an increasing number of battle casualties having had an amputation after combat trauma, it is inevitable that both primary and secondary care clinicians will come into contact with a patient with phantom limb pain (PLP). It is widely acknowledged that its complex aetiology means that this condition is often poorly understood and difficult to manage. A growing pathophysiological understanding is shedding new light on the mechanisms which underlie PLP. Knowledge of these mechanisms will inform treatment and enable clinicians to plan and implement solutions which make a difference to those individuals with this condition. This paper seeks to outline current research into this condition and proposes an approach to treatment. Le Feuvre P, Aldington D. J R Army Med Corps. 2013 Jul 31. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 24109117

Study finds that ghrelin, produced during stressful situations, primes brain for post-traumatic stress disorder
About a dozen years ago, scientists discovered that a hormone called ghrelin enhances appetite. Dubbed the "hunger hormone," ghrelin was quickly targeted by drug companies seeking treatments for obesity—none of which have yet panned out.

MIT neuroscientists have now discovered that ghrelin's role goes far beyond controlling hunger. The researchers found that ghrelin released during chronic stress makes the brain more vulnerable to traumatic events, suggesting that it may predispose people to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). MedicalXpress

Veterans with Gulf War Illness show brain changes linked to memory deficits
This study, published in Clinical Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, is novel in that it confirms Gulf War Illness (GWI) deficits in working memory, a critical cognitive function that enables short-term retention of information for higher-level thinking ability.

In addition, brain alterations revealed in the study show a consistent pattern representing a neurobiological marker that could potentially be used to positively identify GWI. Eurekalert!

Taking stock of research on sleepless soldiers
Various behavioral treatment options are helping to treat the sleeplessness experienced by one in every two American soldiers who have been deployed in recent military operations. So says Dr. Adam Bramoweth of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Pittsburgh Healthcare System, and Dr. Anne Germain of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in the US. This review of research on deployment-related insomnia among military personnel and veterans, conducted since 2010, is published in Springer’s journal Current Psychiatry Reports. Springer