Via Frank Larkin who is featured in that vid, father of the young man who took his own life as retired USN SEAL. He believes changes to brain from repeated BLAST is at least partially responsible for downward spiral of his son. There’s compelling medical evidence as to brain effects. View recent 60 mins vid:
Please read my comments below as they are highly relevant to anyone who may be dealing with similar issues:
What I find frustrating about watching that is there’s meds, supplements, modalities such as red light therapy, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, HRT, etc, that can help immensely NOW and are not being utilized sufficiently if at all. For example, the The Institutes Of Medicine – commissioned by The DOD – found simple cheap creatine likely benefit for TBI. That was a decade ago! Since that time, study after study finds creatine likely a benefit to TBI and highly neuro protective. The DOD paper as well as recent studies on creatine specific to TBI is on BZ and ongoing thread on M4C. (1)
There’s so much they could be doing now, they don’t. Why? I was compelled to make my point after viewing the 60 mins segment. Two, review paper I published with Dr Kyle Hoedebecke, who at the time of publishing, was an MD at Fort Bragg. It gives the reader an idea of what exists that’s not being utilized for our war fighters as to supplements:
While there’s as lot of research yet to be done as the effects of BLAST on PTSD, health, mood, etc there’s no excuse in my view why they don’t utilize the powerful tools that exist right now to improve/prevent/mitigate it. I’m frustrated and saddened by that 60 mins segment as I’m 100% convinced we have the tools right now to make a difference for many war fighters who check out way to soon.
This is a serious problem that has been studied a bit in SOF over the past couple decades. I was in one of the studies, yet the VA determined that nothing was to it.
I think creatine is part of the TBI protocol in SOF, but don’t remember for sure, because the biggest problem is underreporting. The current highest frequency risks in my population are off-duty incidents and shooting Mk18s indoors unsuppressed. My homies in Ukraine have been getting absolutely mauled in the brain very frequently, though.
They were likely wrong. That’s covered briefly in the vid, but summary is they did MRI and didn’t find obvious changes/damage to brain of soldiers, but more sophisticated scans and direct examination of brains (post mortum) did find changes. More research is in process, but my comments are as above, some times you gotta act on what you have, and what we have is more than compelling enough to act in my view. If you wanna get into the weeds:
I may be wrong. More to follow. I have a medic that’s a CPG expert, and he’s digging. So far creatine only appears in proposed TBI guidelines, not approved ones.
Which as mentioned, the DOD recommended researching over a decade ago. It’s amazing what never makes it to those who need it/would benefit from it. Creatine is but one example, but a very glaring example at this point.
That’s about what I expected. The evidence is good, but could be better, and the way to do that is (drum roll…) fund some studies with mil populations like yesterday. The costs, compared to what is thrown in the toilet, wouldn’t even budge the needle.
The DOD report, a decade ago, strongly recommends exactly that. Since that time, there’s been lots of compelling data. Regardless, it’s dirt cheap, safe, and has other benefits. That’s just one of many possible things that would likely be highly beneficial to BLAST related brain damage, be is cumulative (per vid) or acute, such as an IED going off next to ye brain.
Warrior Angel Foundation is an org created by retired SF member and a Dr Gordon. I know Dr Gordon. He’s a bit controversial as far as the main stream med is concerned, vets who have regained their life and health after TBI speak highly of him:
