Traumatic Brain Injury: Hidden Peril of U.S. Soldiers in Combat

Traumatic Brain Injury: Hidden Peril of U.S. Soldiers in Combat
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2109277,00.html#ixzz1ptv18DuH

New Hope for Brain Trauma Victims

With the latest advances in brain trauma care, hope for patients likes  Representative Gabrielle Giffords is on the rise.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,749026237001_2042577,00.html#ixzz1ptrNDR64

Medical Schools to Increase Focus on PTSD, TBI

Military.com | Mobile
Medical Schools to Increase Focus on PTSD, TBI
January 11, 2012             Stars and Stripes                         |             Leo Shane III

WASHINGTON — Medical schools will soon include more course work on post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and other common military ailments as part of a White House-led effort to prepare future physicians for the next generation of veteran patients.

First Lady Michelle Obama and officials from the Association of American Medical Colleges will announce the plans Wednesday afternoon. The effort includes more shared research and clinical trials among 130 medical and osteopathic schools around the country, including Ivy League and other major collegiate research institutions.

Officials from the association on Tuesday told reporters the goal is to ensure that young medical professionals are familiar with the signature wounds of war, and able to more effectively treat the millions of veterans who will struggle with those issues for decades to come.

White House officials said more than half of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans receiving treatment for mental health issues rely not on Department of Veterans Affairs physicians, but instead on private medical practices.

 John Prescott, director of academic affairs for the association, said that while many of the schools touch on military health topics, most don’t have them as a core competency for graduates. The new effort will look for ways to better integrate those lessons into schools’ curricula, and make sure students are familiar with problems veterans could be facing.

For some students, that will likely mean standalone courses on topics like PTSD and TBI, as well as other common battlefield injuries.

The effort is part of the first lady’s Joining Forces campaign, designed to highlight the sacrifices and needs of troops, veterans and their families. Program officials said no federal money is being used for the college coordination efforts, but Defense Department and VA officials will assist with planning and information sharing.

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First lady tackling medical treatment for vets

First lady tackling medical treatment for vets
By Julie Pace
AP

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michelle Obama has gotten a new commitment from medical schools to boost training and research for the treatment of veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health injuries.

The initiative is part of the first lady’s Joining Forces `campaign, which focuses on issues affecting veterans and their families.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MICHELLE_OBAMA_VETERANS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Cost of Treating Veterans Will Rise Long Past Wars

Cost of Treating Veterans Will Rise Long Past Wars, 27 July 2010, NY Times

By: James Dao

 

Paul Rieckhoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America

WASHINGTON — Though the withdrawal of American military forces from Iraq and Afghanistan will save the nation billions of dollars a year, another cost of war is projected to continue rising for decades to come: caring for the veterans.

By one measure, the cost of health care and disability compensation for veterans from those conflicts and all previous American wars ranks among the largest for the federal government — less than the military, Social Security and health care programs including Medicare, but nearly the same as paying interest on the national debt, the Treasury Department says.

Ending the current wars will not lower those veterans costs; indeed, they will rise ever more steeply for decades to come as the population of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan expands, ages and becomes more infirm. To date, more than 2.2 million troops have served in those wars.

Studies show that the peak years for government health care and disability compensation costs for veterans from past wars came 30 to 40 years after those wars ended. For Vietnam, that peak has not been reached.

In Washington, the partisan stalemate over cutting federal spending is now raising alarms among veterans groups and some lawmakers that the seemingly inexorable costs of veterans benefits will spur a backlash against those programs.

Even if cuts to veterans programs do not occur, the current mood of budgetary constraint seems likely to force the Department of Veterans Affairs to make do without the large spending increases it has received from Congress in the recent past.

That means efforts by veterans groups to expand existing health care programs, provide additional benefits to Vietnam veterans or institute new research into things liketraumatic brain injury or hearing loss will face difficult uphill battles, lawmakers and veterans advocates say.

“No one is thinking about the lifetime costs this country is responsible for,” said Senator Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat who is chairwoman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee. “I’m really worried.”

FULL ARTICLE AT: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/28/us/28veterans.html?_r=2

Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Sustaining Member of the Month

Association of the United States Army (AUSA) has selected the firm as the Sustaining Member of the Month

Dear Steptoe Group Supporters,

The Steptoe Group, LLC is please to announce that the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) has selected the firm as the Sustaining Member of the Month (Jan 2010). There are over 550 Sustaining Member companies. AUSA only bestows this honor on twelve companies in a given year.  You may view the AUSA feature at the link below or via the attachment.

http://www.ausa.org/membership/sustaining/members/Pages/TheSteptoeGroup,LLC.aspx

 

Thank you for your continued support and prayers,

 

Ronald J. Steptoe, CMR

Steptoe Group, LLC

President

443-324-1030

[email protected]

www.thesteptoegroup.com

Young Vets with PTSD more Prone to Heart Risk Factors

Adolescent Brain Development and Juvenile Justice – Fact Sheet

47 percent of the soldiers in the Army are between the ages of 17-24 years. 67% of the Marines in the Marine Corps are between the ages of 17-24 years. This article states that recent magnetic brain imagery technology has shown the brain does not complete its frontal lobe development until the age of 25. The frontal lobe of the brain is responsible for executive function and higher lever thinking. The emotional stressors and traumas of war may have a more deleterious impact on the mental and behavioral health conditions of adolescent service members, and veterans.

http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/healthday/2009/08/04/young-vets-with-ptsd-more-prone-to-heart-risk.html