Veteran news 09.13.09: links MS to PTSD

1). CANADIAN COURT LINKS MS TO PTSD -- The Canadian Federal Court ruled Dennis Patterson should receive a military pension for the multiple sclerosis he claims was caused by PTSD he suffered in the military.

     http://www.vawatchdog.org/09/nf09/nfsep09/nf090909-4.htm


2).  STUDY: VA CARE COSTS 33% MORE THAN PRIVATE SECTOR CARE
  
      http://www.vawatchdog.org/09/nf09/nfsep09/nf091409-1.htm

[Karen99]

Very interesting.............

[essdipity]

Hmmm. This is a surprising development. I know that no one is saying (in the court case) that stress *caused* this man's MS, only that it was a trigger. Still, this is more than I've ever read about. There is ample scientific evidence that physical processes such as infections often trigger MS attacks, and that is consistent with the generally accepted theory that MS is an autoimmune disorder.

I have not read, though, that psychiatric/emotional difficulties have actually been blamed in MS attacks, although there's a lot of speculation about this, and we here have often theorized along these lines. Even so, the propensity for MS, the early CNS activity, has to have been there regardless.

So I'm interested to learn that in this Canadian court, a soldier was found to be eligible for a pension because he has MS, in part because he had post traumatic stress while in the army.

Thanks, U. I'll be watching this carefully.

ess

[Ufrustrated2]

>>infections often trigger MS attacks

this is when I first noticed neurological issues. the Navy surgeon found my spinal fluid had a high WBC count prior to scheduled back surgery. they also found o-bands then.

and ever since, well, you know the story.

could be some truth in the evidence you speak of. no doubt stress (physical & emotional) are triggers

[gorlie]

I was Dx in Feb 09 and I am in the Canadian Forces for 29 yrs.  Getting released in Nov 09.  And I do have PTSD from deployments, from 1992... got triggered bad again 3 yrs ago...Since then down hill,stessed out, anxiety, depression, vertigo, headaches...etc..
Still in TMT..
Didn't hear about this case til now...Interessting

[Ufrustrated2]

can relate to those symptoms!

plenty of good folks and information here to lend a hand to help ride those storms out

hang in there

[Wind_and_Water]

Interesting.  Have studies been done that show a significantly higher rate of multiple sclerosis in the PTSD population than in the general population?

[cdnfireman]

I find this really intersting as well. Am a currently serving member of the CF - been in for 14 years. am on my second carear in the forces my first I was in the infantry for 6 years - deployed to Bosnia,swiss air peggy's cove and then africa. so needless to say along the way i picked up ptsd. so fast forward 9 years and lucky me i get dxed with MS. I came across the case of Dennis Patterson the other day and its got me quite interested.
I think there is a valid point.
Post traumatic STRESS syndrome. the key word being stress. I dont think that the ptsd so much caused the ms but the MS is made worse by the PTSD. as we all know stress makes the ms worse.
So I agree that if you have been dxed with ptsd and then develope ms later on down the road - why could you not say that the ptsd makes the ms worse ?
So its not that the MS is pensionalbe its that the (and I think this is the key) PTSD which is already there and pensionable has "contributed" in making the symptoms of MS worse. In other words the MS has been made worse by a precondition (PTSD) which IS pensionable in the CF.
wow think im about to have a stroke because of that one.

[Sailorsong]

OK I can already see the fall out from this...Now it will become almost impossible to get a PTSD dx if you have any signs that you might also have MS. Any takers on that bet?

I also read the other article but feel the author and study are off base in there assessment. While there is a lot of waste in management I don't believe the waste is from doctors handling management type things.

Cases in point:

Waste in mailing info about appointments.

For my last appointment they sent me 6 letters to remind me of the appointment.  Two of them were mailed on the exact same day. Also if you have more than one appointment on the same day they will still mail a separate letter for each appointment most of the time. Just think of how much money is wasted from just mailing all of these out!

Needing to see the same doctor several times for the same thing.

When I had to have surgery on my left knee it took 6 visits to see the same Orthopedic surgeon and 1 year in order to just get it scheduled.
1st visit tell doc about torn cartilage L knee ( dx was done outside VA in 2 visits) he orders MRI of knee L knee.
2nd visit MRI of L knee and see doc. He says I have arthritis in R knee and surgery doesn't help that and gives me meds even though I tell him it is L knee.  He insists that MRI was of R knee.
3rd visit Bring in MRI done outside VA and doc says he can't read CD in the office PC and will have to do it else where and schdules another visit.
4th Visit Say OK you do have torn cartilage in left knee and they will do surgery but have to come back in month to schedule it.
5th Visit finally get surgery scheduled...but they call me a day later to say it needs to be rescheduled due needing my heart checked out first.
6th visit Had heart checked out and all is fine so they schedule the surgery.

I could go on...but this is already getting long..

Dennis

[boots4]

This whole MS in Service members got me flipping. I was dxed in 2007 and developed systems in 2004. I was put on perm cat for my condition, unabe to deploy. I was later medically released in 2009. I started drug therpy in 2007 (Avonex) a fun weekly muscular injection which I continue even today. The drug cost is outragious and I pay the 20 % still close to
$ 400 every 4 weeks. I've been trying to get assistance from VA and thus far denial. I have always linked my condition to stress in my career but no one listens. I've done 3 tours to Bosnian, and may deployments in my early service years with the Navy. I don't think people behind desks realize the stress of the Canadian Force occupations, either deploying or at home where you are over worked because of manpower shortages.
I also get double standard answers about MS and rewarding claims. No one knows what causes MS but there are indivuidals out there receiving a VA Pension for it, at least thats what our North Bay, ON office is saying. I want to keep mobile while I can and maybe the drufs are working, but soon I will not be able to afford them. And if my condition worsens, well then what. I would actually like to talk to Dennis Patterson to see how he was able to manage to link his stress and MS, maybe one day I want be angry.
Boots

[gorlie]

How wonder how many of us Veterans are out there with MS....and PTSD??