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"You cannot fix what you will not face." James Baldwin
A burst of energy, spurred by continuing scientific evidence, clinical results, and state legislative actions, have energized the TBI/PTSD/Blast/Burn Pits/AHI community.
In January, 2024, Senators Warren, Tillis, and Ernst sent a letter to SECDEF seeking answers to a dozen questions related to the crisis of Blast injury. On April 11, 2024, 14 bipartisan Senators (8-D; 5-R; 1-I) introduced the "Blast Overpressure Safety Act." It is a bill to amend title 10, United States Code, to clarify roles and responsibilities within the Department of Defense relating to subconcussive and concussive brain injuries and to improve brain health initiatives of the Department of Defense, and for other purposes. Importantly, it establishes two comprehensive initiatives for brain health: the ‘Warfighter Brain Health Initiative’ and the SPECIAL OPERATIONS BRAIN HEALTH AND TRAUMA PROGRAM. The goal of each is unifying efforts and programs across the Department of Defense to improve the cognitive performance and brain health of members of the Armed Forces.
[NOTE: We are investigating the intent of the Bill with respect to "evidence-based medicine." For the last decade, the "standard of care" as mandated in Clinical Practice Guidelines for TBI have proved incapable of stemming the suicide epidemic, now exceeding 146,000 and continuing an upward trend. Brain-wounded combat Veterans MUST be granted access to HBOT as an adjunct therapy. Scare-mongering and debunked charges that HBOT is unsafe, unproven, and too costly cannot be allowed to stand. Worldwide evidence is overwhelming that HBOT is safe, effective, relatively inexpensive, widely and readily available and being used daily with positive, life-altering success with countless brain-wounded patients.]
A senior member of the Senate is holding additional hearings to seek answers to a question with few answers from responsible parties in DoD: What more can be done to treat and help heal debilitating symptoms allegedly caused by Anomalous Health Incidents (AHI, aka Havana Syndrome).
In May, 24 members of Congress sent a letter to the Comptroller General of the GAO requesting "a Government Accountability Office (GAO) review of DoD efforts to identify, prevent, and treat traumatic brain injuries related to service members’ exposure to blast overpressure." The GAO's response in June said they commence their research within four months.
Meanwhile, the TreatNOW Coalition continues to use Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) to treat symptoms of TBI/PTSD/Blast/AHI with continuing success.
- Marines and other victims of BLAST related to widely-reported stories our of Syria and IRAQ continue to receive HBOT therapy, with life-altering success.
- Burn Pit victims continue to be successfully treated with HBOT for the myriad of polytraumas resulting from combat in war zones infected by Burn Pit toxins.
- AHI victims have begun receiving pro bono treatment with HBOT across the country. Three have completed treatment with enormous success.
Unfortunately, neither the DoD, the VA, State nor the IC have seen their way clear to provide immediate treatment to the hundreds of thousands of brain-wounded victims of attacks, blasts, combat, training, or accidents. The NICoE continues with a standard of care that is far short of what badly treated brain wounded can receive outside their confines of drug and talk therapy mated to palliative care. Over 150 private HBOT clinics and 1,200 hospitals across the country can perform HBOT medicine where the DoD and VA cannot and will not.
Ironically, certain parts of the USG will allow donations and the patriotic pro bono efforts of private HBOT clinics to do the job that military medicine refuses to permit: healing brain wounds.
The states of Kentucky and Virginia have added additional funds to their initial legislation in the last two years calling for the use of HBOT for TBI/PTSD/Blast at the state level. Information on the Kentucky program can be found here. The HOW Foundation and The Extivita Clinic in Durham, NC can provide more information on Virginia and North Carolina programs.
Researchers at the University of South Florida in Tampa received $28M for a clinical trial to replicate data from 21 other clinical trials pointing to the safety and effectiveness of HBOT on individuals with symptoms after a traumatic brain injury (TBI) with or without symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
And Dr. Alison Bested at NOVA Southeastern University in Ft. Lauderdale continues her second clinical trial demonstrating how HBOT used for TBI/PTSD helps heal and virtually eliminate suicidal ideation. Her results continue to show consistent and long-lasting efficacy.
The validity of using HBOT for wound healing to the brain is validated in the most recent research. Unsurprisingly, delivering oxygen under pressure safely and economically leads to effective wound healing. And numerous other interventions for comorbid maladies have a much better chance of effectiveness when the concussion cascade is interrupted and reversed.
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The TreatNOW Mission is ending service member suicides. Along the way, we have learned that we can end suicidal ideation, help end symptoms of PTSD, get patients off most of their drugs, and heal brain wounds to end the effects of BLAST injury, mild TBI Persistent Post Concussive Syndrome, and polytrauma from AHI and Burn Pits. www.treatnow.org
*Heal Brains. Stop Suicides. Restore Lives. TreatNOW*
Information provided by TreatNOW.org does not constitute a medical recommendation. It is intended for informational purposes only, and no claims, either real or implied, are being made.
