Oxygen therapy together with other alternatives are required as a treatment for post-traumatic stres...

1. American Legion leader to pay out a regional visit; says
more needed to help PTSD, mild brain injury victims
Oxygen therapy together with other alternatives are required as a treatment for post-traumatic
stress disorder as a substitute for heavy drug doses, The American Legion’s national commander
says.
Michael Helm, a veteran of one's army’s 82nd Airborne Division, will visit the main city Region in
the near future, including a Wednesday tour of Watervliet Arsenal leading to a 7 p.m. dinner for the
Holiday Inn in Saratoga Springs, where he will address Legion, auxiliary and Sons of one's American
Legion members.
One in all Helm’s priorities as national commander continues to be emphasizing the call for better
remedy for veterans affected by PTSD and mild traumatic brain injury.
Specifically, the Legion has called toward the Veterans Administration to increase using of
hyperbaric oxygen therapy that treats the brain by putting people in a chamber with best oxygen.
Many veterans have faced positive results, but the VA has balked at expanding the program, Legion
officials say.
State Legion spokesman Robert Stronach has said military personnel and veterans are committing
suicide on a rate of 22 each day.
On Thursday, during Yellow Ribbon Day ceremonies in Halfmoon, Gold Star Mother Cindy Roberts of
Queensbury told concerning the painful loss she suffered when her daughter, Sgt. Christie Roberts,
a military National Guard medic, took the ladies life in August 2012.
“Know that suffering can be invisible,” Cindy Roberts said. “Take time, a couple of minutes,
to end and listen.”
A September 2013 American Legion study called “The War Within” found a number of
shortcomings in both of the the Department of Defense and Veterans Administration’s handling of
individuals with traumatic brain injuries and PTSD.
Among the list of key findings, the report said:
• Neither agency has got a well-defined approach to traumatic brain injury; providers merely treat
the symptoms.
• VA and Defense Department research studies lack new innovative, alternative treatments to
drug therapy. Most research has been done to only validate current treatments, including
antidepressants.
• Even if a large number of VA medical centers offer some alternative medicines, they are not
featured in any consistent manner via the VA’s 152 medical centers nationwide.
“We know overall that drugs do not happen to be the response,” past national Legion
Commander William Detweiler said during the time of report’s release. “Don’t remain
drugging user. More you should do.”

2. The Saratoga WarHorse suicide intervention program, founded by Vietnam veteran Bob Nevins of
Saratoga Springs, offers another kind of participating getting soldiers to connect with retired
racehorses in calm, peaceful settings. More often 250 individuals have passed through this program
times past little while, and a second site was recently founded in Aiken, S.C., with support from
Dogwood Stable owners Cot and Anne Campbell.
Helm, of Kansas, will surely be in the middle of state Legion Commander Frank Peters of Staten
Island.
On Thursday, Helm will tour Fort Drum near Watertown, On Friday, he is going to talk with The big
apple area Legion members on a dinner in Queens.