Could PTSD Be Cured With a Single Injection?
- Posted on December 14, 2011 at 11:20pm by
Liz Klimas
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(Image: Dr. Eugene Lipov via Wired)
It may look all attempts by this Chicago-area anesthesiologist, who believes he may have found a way to cure post-traumatic stress disorder with a shot, are in vain. Wired reports that Dr. Eugene Lipov has been rejected by the military for government funding four times — the most recent of which was last month.
The reviewers of his most recent study are reported as saying it was too expensive and didn’t have “a convincing neurobiological explanation.”
But the ears of at least one Navy doctor were perked. Enough so that research is going forward on stellate-ganglion block (SGB), a mechanism that both Lipov and Capt. Anita Hickey think could hold the key to helping patients with PTSD.
Wired has more:
“I think of SGB as being similar to re-starting a computer, only we’re talking about circuitry of the nervous system and chemical pathways,” says Capt. Anita Hickey. Hickey is the director of Integrative Pain Medicine at the Naval Medical Center San Diego, where she’s studied a variety of new approaches to PTSD diagnosis and treatment among military personnel, including brain scans and acupuncture. “We’re seeing very positive results.”
The study is the latest evidence of the Pentagon’s increasing desperation to get a handle on PTSD — a frequently debilitating condition that affects an estimated 250,000 soldiers just from this decade’s wars, and thousands more from earlier conflicts. Doctors across the country are getting Pentagon dollars to study ideas as far-out as dog therapy and “digital dreaming” software. Capt. Hickey says that the Navy alone is currently funding 82 different studies on potential PTSD treatments. So far, nothing’s proven to be a magic bullet.
Wired reports that when Hickey heard about Lipov’s idea, she thought it could work, even while many others were it. Hickey is currently conducting research on this concept with 42 soldiers diagnosed with PTSD. According to Wired, Lipov, who was initially treating post-menopausal women with a similar technique, decided to test SGB on PTSD patients of his after reading an old study. He said it seemed to being working on patients within five minutes:
After subsequent research, however, Lipov in 2009 published a paper in Medical Hypothesis – a journal whose stated mission is to “publish radical, speculative and non-mainstream ideas” — describing how SGB seems to work. The injection of anesthetic, administered into a bundle of sympathetic nervous tissue in the neck, appears to turn off something called nerve growth factor. Nerve growth factor can surge during stressful experiences and promote the sprouting of nerves. That triggers chronic stress — what’s commonly known as the “fight or flight” response.
“If somebody’s circuitry is going haywire, then the anesthetic shuts it off, and reboots the system,” Dr. Hickey says.
According to Wired, this injection which one soldier said made him feel “relaxed and calmed down”, does have risks, such as seizures and the potential for puncturing an artery or lung during the injection.
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strtkd87
Posted on December 15, 2011 at 3:48pmWith upmost respect to our military but ptsd is another real thing that people overreact to. SUCK IT UP! So many people want money for nothing (thats what its about). I am sure many people have a traumatic experience that changes us. And to the best of my know how all soldiers are volunteers, nobody held your hand in the fire. gb4life
Report Post »Valrobex
Posted on December 15, 2011 at 4:23pmHey STRTKD87 you don‘t know what you’re talking about.
I’m, a counseling psychologist who works with a lot of military folks and PTSD is very real. It‘s also something you can’t “suck it up” and thereby eliminate it. You’re entitled to your opinion but keep your ignorance to yourself.
Our military folks volunteered to serve but that doesn’t negate the fact that some of them have been in combat for 8 to 10 years. Human beings are simply not equiped to handle that type of incredible stress over such long protracted periods. Others have endured such traumatic events that they simply can’t get the images out of their minds.
I hope you never experience PTSD but if you ever do you‘ll understand what it’s about. Educate yourself before you spout out your ignorance.
Report Post »zeisea
Posted on December 16, 2011 at 12:58pm‘suck it up”? …. you sucked up that comment. would you tell a terminal cancer patient to “suck it up” instead of trying to do something about it? i volunteer at the Oscar G Johnson VA medical center in Iron Mountain, MI. PTSD is real and it’s debilitating. Go and talk to some vets trying to deal with it. Then come back here and post all you want about sucking it up.
Report Post »vandyman84
Posted on December 15, 2011 at 11:37amthis is how the zombie apocalypse starts.
given my own experience, therapy over drugs…
Report Post »Blackop
Posted on December 15, 2011 at 1:34pmDMT is the cure for PTSD.
Report Post »strtkd87
Posted on December 15, 2011 at 3:46pmWith upmost respect to our military but ptsd is another real thing that people overreact to. SUCK IT UP! So many people want money for nothing (thats what its about). I am sure many people have a traumatic experience that changes us. And to the best of my know how all soldiers are volunteers, nobody held your hand in the fire. gb4life
Report Post »insimpleterms
Posted on December 15, 2011 at 11:00amPTSD is a psychological not a physical problem. A shot will only mask the problem.
Report Post »DrFrost
Posted on December 15, 2011 at 4:23pmPsychological means it’s root cause is in the brain. A shot that affects the brain can, therefore, certainly affect the problem. A chemical that can have long term affects on the brain can, potentially, have long term affects on the the problem.
Look at people on anti-depressants. Some, not all but some, can get off of them after being on them for a year or so WITHOUT returning to the depression that plagued them before treatment.
ALSO – Someone needs to proofread this article. There are numerous annoying mistakes throughout the text.
Report Post »Jenny Lind
Posted on December 15, 2011 at 9:27amThat would sure be a blessing for so many who suffer, hope it works and has no side effects.
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on December 15, 2011 at 8:21am.
Lipov, who was initially treating post-menopausal women with a similar technique………
That right there ought to get the guy a Noble Prize…….
I know 2 that could use a tanker load, Do you Deliver? I have a 2″ trash pump & a hose………..
Report Post »Baddoggy
Posted on December 15, 2011 at 6:47amAccording to Wired, Lipov, who was initially treating post-menopausal women with a similar technique.
I VOLUNTEER MY WIFE!!!
Report Post »Diane TX
Posted on December 15, 2011 at 1:44amI still remember the horrible accident that happened in front of me when I was only fourteen. There was an auto accident, and a baby came crashing through the windshield. The mother was screaming – my baby, my baby!
I also was at a formal political event, which was Black Tie. All the women were dressed in formal gowns. One woman leaned over a banquet table to get food, and her gown caught fire. She was a pillar of fire. Everyone just stood there in shock for a moment, until some men snapped out of it, and used their jackets to try to smother the flames.
Both these things were quite traumatic to witness, but I don’t believe that they had any effect on the rest of my life. EXCEPT, that I improvised a safety seat for my toddler son way before it was required by Law. Most of my friends thought I was a little strange. I’m also very careful around buffet tables that have Sterno Candles.
But hey. Life teaches us things, like don’t put your hand into a flame.
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on December 15, 2011 at 7:58am.
Report Post »I saw a man get his head and arm pinched off, working on a old school drag line, threw up right there…..
redgypsy
Posted on December 15, 2011 at 1:18amAre the effects worth the potential side effects?
Report Post »Depends on how bad the PTSD is. My son-in-law has PTSD (non-war-related), and it would be a godsend for him. Small family gatherings are almost too much for him. Large (more than four people) gatherings ARE too much. He has to go outside just to breathe. He cannot advocate for himself in situations such as making a doctor or dentist appointment. He cannot work because he is incapable of talking to strangers.
On the other hand, I’m supposing seizures would not help…
Detroit paperboy
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 11:22pmBe careful, thats what Timothy Leary thought about LSD…
Report Post »jungle J
Posted on December 14, 2011 at 11:33pmyou are correct .
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