American Foundation for Suicide Prevention is doing something about suicide. It is preventable, If you or a loved one is depressed and do not know where to turn, confidential and professional help is available on their website. Depression is most successfully treated with early intervention. AFSP is initiating a program that will make suicide prevention available on college campuses with an interactive screening program and treatment help. Clicking on the link will take you to a page where you vote for free via facebook. AFSP can win 1 million dollars and your vote could be the tie breaker! If you, or someone you know, is in suicidal crisis or emotional distress please call 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Most suicidal individuals give some warning of their intentions. The most effective way to prevent a friend or loved one from taking his or her life is to recognize the factors that put people at risk for suicide, take warning signs seriously and know how to respond.
Know the Facts
PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS
More than 90 percent of people who kill themselves are suffering from one or more psychiatric disorders, in particular:
Major depression (especially when combined with alcohol and/or drug abuse)
Bipolar depression
Alcohol abuse and dependence
Drug abuse and dependence
Schizophrenia
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Eating disorders
Personality disorders
Depression and the other mental disorders that may lead to suicide are — in most cases — both recognizable and treatable. Remember, depression can be lethal.
The core symptoms of major depression are a “down” or depressed mood most of the day or a loss of interest or pleasure in activities that were previously enjoyed for at least two weeks, as well as:
Changes in sleeping patterns
Change in appetite or weight
Intense anxiety, agitation, restlessness or being slowed down
Fatigue or loss of energy
Decreased concentration, indecisiveness or poorer memory
Feelings of hopelessness, worthlessness, self-reproach or excessive or inappropriate guilt
Recurrent thoughts of death or suicide
PAST SUICIDE ATTEMPTS
Between 25 and 50 percent of people who kill themselves had previously attempted suicide. Those who have made suicide attempts are at higher risk for actually taking their own lives.
Availability of means
In the presence of depression and other risk factors, ready access to guns and other weapons, medications or other methods of self-harm increases suicide risk.
Recognize the Imminent Dangers
The signs that most directly warn of suicide include:
Threatening to hurt or kill oneself
Looking for ways to kill oneself (weapons, pills or other means)
Talking or writing about death, dying or suicide
Has made plans or preparations for a potentially serious attempt
Other warning signs include expressions or other indications of certain intense feelings in addition to depression, in particular:
Insomnia
Intense anxiety, usually exhibited as psychic
pain or internal tension, as well as panic attacks
Feeling desperate or trapped — like there’s no way out
Feeling hopeless
Feeling there’s no reason or purpose to live
Rage or anger
Certain behaviors can also serve as warning signs, particularly when they are not characteristic of the person’s normal behavior. These include:
Acting reckless or engaging in risky activities
Engaging in violent or self-destructive behavior
Increasing alcohol or drug use
Withdrawing from friends or family
Take it Seriously
Fifty to 75 percent of all suicides give some warning of their intentions to a friend or family member.
Imminent signs must be taken seriously.
Be Willing to Listen
Start by telling the person you are concerned and give him/her examples.
If he/she is depressed, don’t be afraid to ask whether he/she is considering suicide, or if he/she has a particular plan or method in mind.
Ask if they have a therapist and are taking medication.
Do not attempt to argue someone out of suicide. Rather, let the person know you care, that he/she is not alone, that suicidal feelings are temporary and that depression can be treated. Avoid the temptation to say, “You have so much to live for,” or “Your suicide will hurt your family.”
Seek Professional Help
Be actively involved in encouraging the person to see a physician or mental health professional immediately.
Individuals contemplating suicide often don’t believe they can be helped, so you may have to do more.
Help the person find a knowledgeable mental health professional or a reputable treatment facility, and take them to the treatment.
In an Acute Crisis
If a friend or loved one is threatening, talking about or making plans for suicide, these are signs of an acute crisis.
Do not leave the person alone.
Remove from the vicinity any firearms, drugs or sharp objects that could be used for suicide.
Take the person to an emergency room or walk-in clinic at a psychiatric hospital.
If a psychiatric facility is unavailable, go to your nearest hospital or clinic.
If the above options are unavailable, call 911 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
Follow-up on Treatment
Suicidal individuals are often hesitant to seek help and may need your continuing support to pursue treatment after an initial contact.
If medication is prescribed, make sure your friend or loved one is taking it exactly as prescribed. Be aware of possible side effects and be sure to notify the physician if the person seems to be getting worse. Usually, alternative medications can be prescribed.
Frequently the first medication doesn’t work. It takes time and persistence to find the right medication(s) and therapist for the individual person.
Low-level laser light is compressed light of a wavelength from the cold, red part of the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation. It is different from natural light in that it is one precise color; it is coherent (it travels in a straight line), monochromatic (a single wavelength) and polarized (it concentrates its beam in a defined location or spot). These properties allow laser light to penetrate the surface of the skin with no heating effect, no damage to the skin and no known side effects. Rather, laser light directs biostimulative light energy to the body’s cells which the cells then convert into chemical energy to promote natural healing and pain relief.
These are ways laser treatment has been found to help
Speeds Up Tissue Repair: Increased energy to the cells means increased cellular activity for all of the cell’s components that rely on this energy including collagen formation. Speeding up tissue repair means less scar tissue formation.
Increases Endorphins: Endorphins can produce analgesia (pain relief) and feelings of well-being. They are known as the bodies natural pain killers.
Increased Lymphatic Drainage: Studies have shown that cold laser therapy can increase the size of the lymphatic ducts thus facilitating protein waste removal.
Increased Blood Flow: to the tissues because of increased capillary formation. This helps healing. The laser affects deeper tissues as well including muscles and tendons.
Relieve nerve pain and trigger points without surgery or chemicals
By Amy Price PhD
IMS is similar to acupuncture except that the treatment does not rely totally on meridians but is based on a physicians training in anatomy. trigger points and the central nervous system. It can be treatment orientated as well as a useful minimally invasive diagnostic tool for neuropathic muscle pain.
Trauma and chronic pain often produces muscle shortening. These shortened muscles can press on and irritate the nerve. Even though this pressure may seem slight and be difficult to measure it can be the source of excruciating pain. This pressure builds up over time causing all kinds of problems like making the nervous system super sensitive. This can cause sensitivity to pain in other areas of the body. To get an idea of how this works think about wearing a pair of slightly snug shoes. At first you feel nothing but as the day goes on that slight pressure becomes something that can not be ignored. With the shoes you can rip them off and toss them into the trash, but when pressure mounts inside the muscle pushing on the nerve there is nowhere for it to go.
IMS works on the premise that supersensitive area can be desensitized. IMS releases muscle shortening by dry needling the sensitive areas with tiny acupuncture needles. Penetration of a normal muscle is relatively painless however an afflicted muscle responds to the needle with a slight cramping sensation. This stimulates a ’stretch receptor’ which produces a reflex relaxation response resulting in a lengthening of that muscle fiber. The needle also causes an electric potential which travels to the nerve and potentially resets it to normal function. The other thing that happens is the needle produces a minute wound which causes increased blood flow to the area to enhance circulation and initiate healing. For FAQs about IMS or research links click here Does it work? The answer seems to be that for some people it does. For research links New treatments with prolotherapy and adult stem cell treatment may produce results. Diet can help with pain Specific supplements can help ligaments and tendons heal to take the stress off overworked muscles
Nerve Glides can help release a lot of the pain that comes from trauma and even arthritis. A lot of the pain may be originating from the nerves in a cascading effect which inflames surrounding soft tissue. The peripheral nerves in your arms and legs are mobile structures that can stretch when elongated. Injury and scar tissues can trap them but you can do special stretches called nerve glides to release these areas.
To see how your nerves move try this. Take your finger and touch your nose. Then bring your hand all the way out to your side and stretch it out as far as it will go. Next tilt your head away from your outstretched hand (if it’s your left hand, bend your head right). You will likely notice a pulling sensation in your hand and arm with your head bent. Now try to bring the head towards the hand, does it go away? This is a demonstration of nerve tension.
There is no muscle that goes all the way from your neck to the hand. Since bending your head away from the hand tightens the nerves that go from your neck to your hand, you feel pulling. If you feel pain, numbness and tingling, this is a problem you should tell your doctor about. Nerve glides can be used in multiple body areas not just the hand and neck. Nerve pain is referred to other body areas and you can get an idea of the patterns by looking at a dermatome map
Another example is that the nerve when inflamed looks like a thick lumpy rubberband, but as you stretch and glide the nerves, they thin out making an easier passage through the channels they move theough. If you stretch a rubber band it “thins” out.
The nerves in your body have a normal range of motion like the joints. Nerve glides are stretches that help get back that normal movement. Nerve glides must be done gently and should never increase pain. The goal is to free the area up and not to inflame it so in this case pain is not gain. Technique is critical. It is best to have an occupational therapist that specializes in neural education who can show you how to do these nerve glides. They will give you a sheet with the instructions on how to do these right and you can watch as you perform the nerve glides in the mirror to make sure your form is correct. Nerve glides are also known as nerve flossing or nerve stretching.
The ligaments act like duct tape to hold our bones and joints together. When ligaments lose their elasticity the bones and joints move too much and irritate the structures around them. Ligaments provide boundaries for movement. For example when we bend our fingers backwards the ligaments will stop us from pushing them too far back and breaking the bones. It is this way with most of the joints in our bodies. The ligaments cause them to work within a safe range of motion. When one of the ligaments is torn or stretched, the excess movement will cause pain and swelling. In an injured joint and you may notice more popping, cracking or even a grinding feeling. The joint may have become unstable.
In the neck and spine, ligaments are crucial for holding vertebrae together. Spinal ligaments are especially vulnerable to overstretching or tears in a car wreck. If you experience these symptoms after a wreck you may want to be examined for a ligament injury:
• popping, cracking, or grinding in the neck with movement
• pain or spasms that get much worse with activity
• Numbness or tingling into the hand(s) or feet that gets worse with activity or accompanied by popping, cracking, or grinding.
Flexion-extension x-rays, or digital motion x-rays can be a good way to help diagnose ligament instability. A good physician will want to test the spine segment by segment to test for stability and this is an essential step for enabling accurate treatment. The diagram above shows some of the ways ligament pain is referred in the neck area. For referred pain in other body areas look at our dermatome pages
Treatment usually proceeds as follows:
• Specially trained medical practitioners such as Chiropractors or Osteopaths can mobilize any stiff segments that may be overloading the unstable segment
• Posture Training can improve stability, injury can increase tightening of muscle structures which can cause guarding of the painful area. This throws posture off balance and can aggravate instability.
• Strengthen any weak, deep supporting muscles (like multifidus) that may be allowing too much movement. Core strength exercise like modified Pilates with the guidance of a trained physiotherapist can be helpful
• Don’t be talked into mobilizing or manipulating an unstable segment as this can bring a temporary improvement but over time can make things worse. Sometimes bracing is used and while this may seem like a good solution to reduce pain initially prolonged bracing can cause further weakening of the surrounding muscles and later slow recovery.
• Prolotherapy may prove helpful, adult stem cell therapy using your own cells has been reasonably successful in initial trials.
• Surgical stabilization is sometimes used when no other treatment brings improvement.
You have been sent to a specialist…what next? First of all sort out what you expect to happen as a result of this visit. What are your goals? Make sure they are realistic. If this was easy your primary care doctor could probably fix it.
Before your visit explain what records you have and ask which of these they would like you to copy and pre-send. Usually you can get copies of MRIs or other diagnostic tests on CD. They are easier to carry with you or send than bulky films. If you choose to send your diagnostic results and films call and confirm they arrived. Get a cost for a cash price unless you have medical insurance which will cover your visit so that you will know your costs and if you can absorb them.
If you are making a distance appointment insist on a phone consultation so you will know if your expectations are viable. If the staff you speak with don’t have information about a certain area make arrangements to call back when it is available. This way all the preliminary material is out of the way and your appt can focus on what is most important. Explain you are travelling from out of town and are in pain and request the best time of day to be seen promptly. Emergencies or office back ups can still happen but this step minimizes the possibility.
Write down what you consider to be the most important things you want covered in your visit. You may want to refer to a dermatome map The reason you may want to do this is because chronic pain and injury can cause us to be sidetracked by emotion. You may get a compassionate response but it may eat away at the time available.
This is the place to get your MRI and other diagnostic tests explained. The doctor that ordered the test is the one who needs to explain it. Get an advance copy of the report and ask about what you don’t understand. We get emails every day from people who want us to translate the MRI or other diagnostics. We cannot do this because the MRI is only part of the equipment needed for a diagnosis. It is your job to make sure you understand your diagnosis before you leave the doctor’s office. Here are more practical tips on making the most out of the doctor’s appointment
It is helpful to plan a nice dinner out or a treat for yourself for afterwards and if you can, take someone with you who will remember what the Doctor says. The reason for this is it will be difficult for you to reconcile yourself to a 40 minute appt when the injury has taken over your life 24/7. Even though your appointment time may be quite generous, logic and rational thought cannot always be counted on, when you just want it fixed.
Now relax and trust the specialist you have chosen!
DIGITAL MOTION X-RAY® is a diagnostic test that records real time, full motion x-ray imaging of any body joint in motion. DMX® can often unlock the mystery of spinal pain. It is common knowledge among spinal care professionals including surgeons that damage to ligaments, tendons and underlying support structures can not be corrected with surgery or physiotherapy alone. Until now it has been difficult to diagnose these injuries objectively. Serious ligamentous and facet joint injuries are well documented at autopsy however this is not a working solution for live patients in need of care! Should you ask your doctor to order a DMX® exam for you?…. To find out ask yourself these questions:
• Do I have pain in one or more of my joints that increases with motion?
• Did I injure myself with a sudden jolt to one or more of my joints, as a whiplash injury, slip and fall or blow from a sporting activity?
• Do I have joint pain, the cause of which has not been determined by conventional x-ray, MRI or other diagnostic tests?
If you have answered yes to any of the above, consider a DMX® examination.
Stretched and torn ligaments can result in a condition called “kinesiopathology” or abnormal motion of the bones that make up the joint. This abnormal motion results in ongoing rubbing and grinding of the bone surfaces during motion, preventing normal healing, and leading to premature onset of degenerative joint disease, a wear and tear type of arthritis. DMX® can fully evaluate internal joint motion, and properly screen for kinesiopathology
What Makes DMX® unique?
Good question! Auto accident injuries occur in milliseconds, too quick for the human nervous system to react and protect. This leaves only bones and ligaments to protect the body. Since cervical bones are rarely broken, the connective tissues are most commonly injured.
The Hidden Culprit – Ligaments
Ligaments are connective tissue that attach bone to bone. The purpose of ligaments is to keep bones in proper position, and work similar to hinges on a door. It has been suspected that ligaments are damaged easily, but until now, it has been difficult to diagnose ligamentous injuries. DMX® can demonstrate these injuries in as little as 15 minutes.
DMX® visually demonstrates aberrant movement of bones, allowing the radiologist to specifically determine which ligaments are injured. Treatment can then be tailored to the patient’s need and progress can be assessed with the help of DMX®. Promising solutions for tissue regeneration are currently in development at the Spinal Injury Foundation.
With the help of DMX® these injuries can be seen from the inside out
A perfect egg sample
Common sense will tell you that one cannot determine the injury an accident victim has suffered by merely looking at the outer shell of the car. When we buy eggs, how often do we open the carton to check if the eggs on the inside are broken? Every time!
Experience teaches that we cannot determine the condition of the egg by looking at the container. The same holds true for a person’s body – the evidence is in the person’s body, not the car.
Although high TESLA MRIs can pick up ligament damage they are sometimes less available that DMX. For information on MRIs see this link
Adult stem cell viability is on many minds. I have had queries from UN ambassadors to children of only nine asking me about stem cells. The curiousity is international but the questions are the same. People are not sure who to trust and they need stem cells now. Many can not travel to other countries because they are too ill and others lack funding for private stem cell clinics. Some of these feel the FDA or the NHS is unreasonable in thier demands for testing while others feel patient testimonials should be outlawed. My own training is in mental health/psychology so patient to patient information is all I can offer.
I personally like patient testimonials especially when they are accompanied by forums where people discuss how and if the treatment worked and what the hurdles were in getting treatment. I have often learned more from groups of patients with an experience than from professionals with just a theory. Forums are not meant to be professional research, they are peer to peer information only. Google stem cell or regenerative medicine forums and you will get many choices.
I agree clinical trials and time are important to assess treatments but realistically it will be 15 or 20 years before long term results are on the table for clinical trials. There are some companies that have obtained FDA approval for trials, others are listed at clinicaltrials.gov It may be useful to look at this Doctor’s description of FDA off label drug use for drugs to understand how the rules were set up and to get an inkling of how this could all translate to cell biology.
My concerns are that engineering any living object is not a simple process and what looks simple from the outside in a needle in/needle out sort of process is very complex from a laboratory perspective and all the answers may not be in. Some clinics are reputable, give good patient care and patients are reporting good long-term results. Some patients are fortunate enough to get into a university sponsored trial that is tied to a major research hospital. Other clinics are still using methods that were proven ineffective many years ago. Patients are vulnerable and need protection sometimes even from themselves. I can no longer count the number of friends I have lost to questionable therapies after spending family fortunes in a quest for a cure. There are no easy answers…
Having said this and knowing from personal experience the agony of chronic unrelenting pain and the sadness of life lost because of disability I would not likely wait until the votes were in but would join in the age old clamor of patients trapped by pain “Just fix me!” The International Society for Stem Cell Research has released guidelines which are helpful to use when considering any new therapy. The PDF is available here
With spinal injuries and head injuries it is often the secondary damage to the neurons that causes big problems especially when that swelling and inflammation is in the spinal cord or the brain. The worst damage shows up several hours to many days later. Now, scientists in Rochester, New York, have discovered a simple way to stop a lot of this secondary damage in its tracks…at least in mice by using that old familiar blue food dye that gives M&Ms, blue bubble gum and blue raspberry popsicles their color. Patients with spinal injuries could escape with vastly reduced loss of function if this works in people but they’ll turn bright blue in the process.
Much secondary damage is caused by adenosine triphosphate, or ATP. This chemical can go into overkill with trauma and cause neurons to fire until they burn out and die leaving inflammation and sludge to trip up the neurons behind them causing an unhealthy destructive cycle. With spinal trauma, the area around the injury is flooded with ATP, which causes otherwise healthy neurons to fire out of control until they die of exhaustion. It also increases the swelling around the wound. Swelling around an injury site is a positive healing factor in many parts of the body, but because the spinal cord is encased in a narrow column blood supply gets cut off and cells die. But a study published in July 28’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) seems to show that it’s possible to block the actions of ATP and greatly reduce the severity and permanence of spinal injuries – using the same type of food dye that gives blue M&Ms their color, a food dye called Brilliant Blue G, or BBG.
BBG can be administered intravenously with no need to inject directly into the injury site. It has the ability to cross the blood-brain barrier, which then gives it access to the spinal cord. BBG binds to the same neuroreceptor (P2X7) as the ATP binds to but it has a stronger affinity for the receptor than ATP has and gets there first so it effectively blocks the action of the ATP at the injury site. Only one problem….patients turn blue ! It is temporary and is sure better than having a serious injury. You wear the injury but the blue die wears off…..All I can say is color me blue for spinal injury.
See the full method of the experiments here (PDF). BBG has been a food dye approved by the FDA since the 1920s but would this be considered off label use like the cholesterol lowering of Cheerios cereal. While all the rats were severely injured, the BBG-injected rats showed a greatly improved ability to support their bodyweight on their hind legs, control their bladders, and even walk in some cases. The blue skin coloring eventually faded as well, and no side effects were noted.
Human testing would be required before BBG can be moved forward into clinical use. It would be a terrific tool for ambulance drivers and paramedics. They could begin treatment right at the site of the incident, It is cheap and easy, even hospitals can use the blue stuff as soon as they get the patient hooked up and ready to go.
The kids must have known best when they told me blue ice cream was good for me …As for me…I will stock up on blue Gatorade and drink it down just in case it could make a difference!
There have been multiple articles featuring brain and serious neck injury stating how people have overcome cognitive obstacles despite adversity. I celebrate these articles as I know from personal experience the tolls that this road takes and the cost to family members and supporters. One mother was explaining how one minute her brain injured son could do complex algebra and the next he could not tell a red diamond from a black spade in a deck of cards. I too remember those days.
The cognitive inconsistencies are joined by emotional areas. Sometimes the brain will forget what we want it to remember and play over and over like a broken tape those areas we only want to put behind us. The other day I found some practical help in the way of videos and research on how to navigate the initial trauma. These outline what to expect in the emergency room, how to protect yourself in the event of a crash and ways you can help yourself get the best medical care. I thought I would share them here. If you go to the web site you can download the material as MP3 or as PDF files. This is a brilliant solution as watching a video makes it tough to pick up the references which are the key to deeper study…Enjoy!
In the next few posts there will be strategies for overcoming brain fog and getting the sharp mental edge back
