Ptsd

Risk factors linked to sudden cardiac death University of Pennsylvania researchers have identified risk factors that put postmenopausal women with heart disease at high risk of sudden cardiac death - abruptly dying of a lethal arrythmia. Currently, the only established risk factor for sudden cardiac death is weak heart contractions, measured by an echocardiogram. But many heart disease patients whose heart develops a lethal arrythmia don't have this weakening. For their study, the Penn researchers analyzed data from a previous study of 2,763 postmenopausal heart disease patients.

Chief Warrant Officer Kevin Ellicott's nightmares can be tough to explain. But Sierra understands. "She's actually woken me up when I was having one," says the 43-year-old Marine, whose peppy black Lab puppy is "helping me find my new normal. " Sierra is enrolled in the new Semper Fido program at K-9 Basics Dog Training & Clif Wyck Kennels in Marlton, where I checked out an open house Saturday. K-9 co-owner Lisa Berg says a Good Morning America story inspired her to establish Semper Fido in November 2010 with Ellicott's help.

DEAR ABBY: Large numbers of veterans are returning home with a wide range of psychological difficulties, many struggling with severe physical injuries or traumatic brain injuries. One in 10 soldiers reports mental health problems, while 30 percent of U.S. troops develop serious mental health problems within three to four months of coming home. Post-traumatic stress is a natural human reaction to horrific experiences. The symptoms of PTSD are greatly reduced if appropriate treatment is provided quickly to those in need.

When Army Sgt. Coleman Bean left Iraq to resume his civilian life in New Jersey, he was a changed man. No longer as outgoing, he appeared subdued and unfocused after two combat deployments. He also began drinking too much. "I thought he just needed to unwind," said his mother, Linda Bean of East Brunswick. "I was just so grateful to have him home in one piece. " But inside, the 25-year-old veteran carried disturbing memories of Iraq, including one of women and children burning alive in a bus fire.

The handsome man on the videotape was reliving a very bad memory, and he was doing it amazingly well. His eyes were closed. He was speaking in present tense. His voice was shaking, and he was sniffling. His whole body looked wired. He wanted to cure his post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and he was doing exactly what his new therapist had told him to do. He was mentally putting himself back in the night that most terrified him, one that had haunted him with flashbacks and nightmares for nine years.

Ian Smith had a plan. After 8 1/2 years as an Army intelligence analyst, he was ready for a change. He had enlisted in 2000, not long after turning 18. After two deployments in Iraq, the young sergeant was ready to return to school and explore his options. He'd done his time, served his country, and now it was time to focus on himself. As it turns out, serving others had more of a hold on him than he'd imagined. After his discharge in February 2009, he leapt into his new life.

WAR IS HELL. It always has been. But for generations of soldiers who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, peace also has proven nothing short of hellish. PTSD has been called by different names - like "shell shock" in World War I or "combat fatigue" in World War II - but it is the same, inevitable human response to the experience of combat. It doesn't matter if the war was thought to be "good" or "bad," or if its returning soldiers were hailed as heroes or spat upon or ignored.

WARTORN: 1861-2010. 9 p.m. tomorrow, HBO. EIGHTEEN-YEAR-OLD Angelo Crapsey went off to fight for his country, but it wasn't long before the Pennsylvania native was writing home to a friend about a Company D sergeant who'd committed suicide, commenting, "He seemed to be a little shattered. " Some soldiers were so afraid they were fleeing, but it wouldn't happen to him, he vowed. Three years later, though, after a stay in a military hospital, Crapsey was discharged from the service as unfit to fight.

Specter offers bill on stem-cell funds WASHINGTON - Sen. Arlen Specter (D., Pa.) initiated a drive Monday to legalize federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research, seeking to supersede conflicting court decisions that he said were slowing critical work to find cures for crippling diseases. Specter, speaking on the Senate floor, said his legislation would codify an executive order issued by President Obama last year advancing stem-cell research. Even a temporary suspension of federal funding while the courts debate funding practices disrupts research projects in such areas as heart disease, sickle-cell anemia, and other maladies, Specter said.

Army Spec. Bryan Adams saw the signs of trouble. People were shuffling away as he and other members of his unit walked down a street in the Iraqi city of Tikrit in October 2004. Off to the side, two children sitting on a curb appeared frightened, as though they knew what was about to happen. "I looked at their huge eyes, literally took five steps, then heard the gunfire," said Adams, 25, of Palmyra. "I was hit in the left leg, stumbled a little, and started running. " Bullets peppered a wall next to him. One hit his hand before he got around a corner "out of the kill zone.