Hello, this is a new thread on an old topic. I will start it off with a copy and paste of a question and answer from January.

Bob058
Member

Posted Tue 09 January 2007 12:47 AM
DAVE

I've been on the "PTSD May Raise Heart Attack Risk" thread and found Patience Mason (PatienceMason) responding to a poster. Check out her bio, she has written books on PTSD and sent a "Buddy Letter" to you, for me on your e-mail. I think she could be a VERY GOOD person to bring aboard the PTSD threads.
Posts: 657 | Registered: Fri 21 February 2003

posted Tue 09 January 2007 12:47 AM

DaveBarker
"Has Been 5"

LEAD MODERATOR
PTSD FORUM LINKS AND AGENT ORANGE

Posted Wed 10 January 2007 01:09 AM

We use her book here at the Chillicothe VAMC PCT. Excellent work, simply excellent!

I will cast no stones!

Dave Barker
Posts: 9865 | Registered: Tue 12 November 2002

Originally posted by Bob058:
DAVE

I've been on the "PTSD May Raise Heart Attack Risk" thread and found Patience Mason (PatienceMason) responding to a poster. Check out her bio, she has written books on PTSD and sent a "Buddy Letter" to you, for me on your e-mail. I think she could be a VERY GOOD person to bring aboard the PTSD threads.


Oh Christ, now I have something ELSE to worry about?
Posts: 20462 | Registered: Mon 19 March 2001

posted Fri 26 January 2007 06:29 PM

DaveBarker
"Has Been 5"

LEAD MODERATOR
PTSD FORUM LINKS AND AGENT ORANGE

Posted Fri 26 January 2007 11:03 PM

USMCvet just keep your doctor and clinician appointments, discuss your issues with them and follow their advice. What the report reflects is an issue that has been on my table since 1987 when my now deceased friend, Dwight had a heart attack which was due to his PTSD. We developed his claim based on the family history of healthy hearts and cardiovascular systems, Dwights personal history and equal importance, the opinions of his psychiatrist, psychologist and his primary health providing physician. The claim was approved in 1991.
Over the years several more "heart condition secondary to PTSD" claims filed by me were approved, always using the same development theory.
USMCvet, thanks for your post!

I will cast no stones!

Dave Barker
Posts: 9865 | Registered: Tue 12 November 2002

Ignored post by DaveBarker posted Fri 26 January 2007 11:03 PM


ohbeehave
Member
Posted Sat 27 January 2007 03:22 AM

Hi Dave,

I'm 70% connected for PTSD. Yesterday I was given a cardiogram because of a mixture of meds I'm on. My resting heart rate was 126....I get anxious when people call my name, it's one of my triggers, so I was already keyed up when I went in to see the nurse.

The cardiogram showed that I have tachycardia (or rapid heart beat). I believe this to be tied into my anxiety and PTSD. Should I introduce this into my claim?

Thanks,
Kevin
Posts: 80 | Registered: Thu 27 April 2006

posted Sat 27 January 2007 03:22 AM

DaveBarker
"Has Been 5"

LEAD MODERATOR
PTSD FORUM LINKS AND AGENT ORANGE

Posted Sat 27 January 2007 03:38 AM
quote:
The cardiogram showed that I have tachycardia (or rapid heart beat). I believe this to be tied into my anxiety and PTSD. Should I introduce this into my claim?

Thanks,
Kevin

Yes, as a matter of fact I just posted additional information on that specific issue this very morning (above). PTSD does affect the heart. Heart problems also can develop as secondary condition to the PTSD. Please discuss this with your psychiatrist and primary care providers as soon as possible.
You will also find additional information on my website.

Patience Mason has also written Recovering From the War (book) Why is Daddy Like He Is? for kids, and pamphlets for vets and other trauma survivors. The book has been in use in the Chillicothe PCT for quite some time. It has my highest recommendation for reading.

http://www.patiencepress.com

Copied and pasted from 1 OCT 02
quote:
i'm in my 50s and a bit concerned, cause we also have heart disease in my family.


I am 59 and have been in heart failure for over twenty years from three acute MI's, one where I went full arrest long enough for lobal ischemia. I have many other medical isssues also, but that's beside the point. I have lasted this long, IMO,aside from genes(no family history),.. from aerobics, initiated in Cardiac rehab from my first MI. My heart was so damaged in '87 that I couldn't walk for weeks,
but when I did, I took one more step every day. Drs' said that leg stress was easiest on the heart, and that I would never pump iron again or build muscle mass, so I pushed the walking... and then climbing right through the pain and 2 more MI's and 8 more PTCA's ,but would pick myself up and start again as recently as 5 years ago(MI,'01, 2 stents, LAD + RCA) with aerobic 3 times a week and anerobic three times a week, and have built pounds of muscle mass.
I knew, before medical studies proved it, that with the building of muscle mass, the effects of heart failure are reduced because of an increased ventricular ejection faction caused by strengthening of heart muscle through anerobics and pumping iron. Do not try this at home boys and girls without your Dr's advice!

Also, after cooling down from a half/hr. cardio, I feel as if I popped a tranquilizer, plus I have more energy to almost be physically normal.
I do all this because of 'great concern' for the health of my heart.

Let's Ride!
Flash

"Science Daily — Combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) appear to be at higher risk for coronary heart disease (CHD), according to a recent study of 4,462 male U.S. Army veterans who served during the Vietnam War. The study results suggest that PTSD and other types of severe psychological distress may actually cause heart disease. While the relationship between severe stress exposures and heart disease has been confirmed in animal studies, this association has been difficult to establish in human studies."



http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/11/991110061613.htm

.........../"These data suggest that prolonged stress and significant levels of PTSD symptoms may increase the risk for CHD in older male veterans," they conclude. "These results are provocative and suggest that exposure to trauma and prolonged stress not only may increase the risk for serious mental health problems but are also cardiotoxic."

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/59932.php

'quote"By examining their electrocardiograms for signs of cardiovascular disease, Dr. Boscarino found those veterans were six times more likely to have had a heart attack.

Dr. Boscarino adjusted the findings to eliminate any effect from factors such as alcohol abuse and smoking. And the men who suffered from the worst cases of post-traumatic stress had even higher heart attack rates.]/quote

http://www.healthsystem.virginia.edu/uvahealth/news_mindbody/0404mb.cfm

Jan. 3, 2007 -- High levels of posttraumatic stressdisorder (PTSD) symptoms may raise men's heart risks after age 60, a new study shows.

The study shows that among male veterans aged 60 and older, those with high levels of PTSD symptoms were more likely to develop heart disease.

The findings appear in the Archives of General Psychiatry."

http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20070103/posttr...ss-ups-heart-disease

Been telling people (and the VA) that for many years!

I reckon I and others on this forum are good examples of that.
Diagnosed with PTSD, GAF score 30, really screwed up heart (with attacks) in my 60's. NO RECORD of family history of anyone ever having any sort of heart problems.

Men with higher levels of PTSD symptoms were more likely to develop heart disease during the study. The link between PTSD symptoms and heart disease was "modest," the researchers write.

quote:

Originally posted by DaveBarker:
Men with higher levels of PTSD symptoms were more likely to develop heart disease during the study. The link between PTSD symptoms and heart disease was "modest," the researchers write.

Non the less they also state:

"Calling the results "provocative," the researchers write that their data "suggest that prolonged stress and significant levels of PTSD symptoms may increase the risk for [coronary heart disease] in older male veterans.""

----------

They also state that excercise was not factored but family history was.
I ask, " How many with family history may not have had a heart attack if they did NOT have PTSD?"

It seems to me, that private reasearch that involves ex-military personnel, seems overly reserved in stating associations of "compensatory" diseases.

Agent Orange research is a good example of this.

CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first study to demonstrate a prospective association between PTSD symptoms and CHD even after controlling for depressive symptoms. These results suggest that a higher level of PTSD symptoms may increase the risk of incident CHD in older men.

The study:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17199060?ordinalpos=...anel.Pubmed_RVDocSum

My specific heart condition is not related to CHD, I do not have stints and, in fact, my veins are very clear.

I have a genetic condition called "Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy". It is a thickening of the interior heart wall called the Septum. It blocks the flow of blood into the Aorta.

I am working with a private group at www.4hcm.org in New Jersey trying to relate it to AO because it did not appear until I was 48 and none of my relatives seem to have had it. We're trying to find out if the AO aggrevated it, because it appears in most people in their late teens or early 20's. There is a hospital in Boston doing studies on the tissue removed and my Echos to find why it started so late in me.

If anyone has the same problem related to HCM, please, contact the 4hcm site to help relate AO to it. So far, I seem to be the only victim.

I am aware of you condition from prior posts.

Do your cardioligists know you have PTSD?...And if they do,.. has 'stress' ever been discussed relating to your aggrevated heart condition?

quote:

trying to find out if the AO aggrevated it

During one of my 8 angioplasties, I had a procedure done that is known as an atherectomy(spelling) ( roto-rooter) The device looked like a 2 dollar toy that ran on batteries. My arteries were blocking up every 6 months to a year. Statin drugs and a low lipid profile didn't slow this down. My cardioligist said they would remove this tissue and examine it. I later asked my cardioligist for the results and he said they didn't test it.
This was at a VAH.

I was just approved for 70% PTSD a month ago, retro to September 2007. The VA says "although I applied in 2003, I was denied and it was closed". I didn't close it and I have proof of attempts to 'undeny it', so my new VSO and I are appealing.

Also, I didn't know I was in areas sprayed by AO until 2 years ago. I did submit a claim when I found out, that is pending, but unless more people are found to have had it aggrevated by AO it will probably be denied. That is why I'm having the tests, if AO is found in the tissue I have a chance. But, it will still take an Act of Congress to blame the aggrevation on AO or Vietnam.

Since HC was detected in 1991 as a 'murmur' and determined to be HC in 1999, I had minimal problems or side effects. In 2003, when I started going to the VA for treatment, I started having shortness of breath, had to stop my 3x a week work-outs and gradually became unable to work or cope with stress. I was denied IU after being unemployed since 2001, because my condition was 'non-service connected' and I was denied PTSD.

The VA has been screwing me over since Day 1.

A lot of veterans feel that they are unduly cared for by the VA. The thing to do is to insure that you have competent help from a qualifed VSO. Take your time, chat with a variety or organizations at your Regional Office and find that one that has the right chemistry for you. Find one that is up to snuff on current law and VA policies. It will serve you well in the end.

quote:

Originally posted by OldAFcop:
A lot of veterans feel that they are unduly cared for by the VA. The thing to do is to insure that you have competent help from a qualifed VSO. Take your time, chat with a variety or organizations at your Regional Office and find that one that has the right chemistry for you. Find one that is up to snuff on current law and VA policies. It will serve you well in the end.

Bless you!

I just read what I wrote above, I was referring to my hereditary heart condition(HMC). I'm trying to find out if AO aggrevated it enough to cause the problems at my 'advanced' age. It usually shows up in the late teens or twenties.

The first thing I was told was, "you ever watch an athlete running down the field and suddenly drop dead?" "That could happen to me". SO!!! NO strenuous work since then! I'm hoping these tests on my heart tissue and the ECHO's will determine what started it.

As for my VSO, she is even better than my last one. She works hard and doesn't take no for an answer. I feel VERY fortunate to have good people helping me. I DO NOT like the VFW because I've heard TOOO many stories about them telling 'non-combatants' to go in ACT crazy and paranoid and they will get 100% PTSD, immediately. That is why guys like me have to spend YEARS trying to get recognition and then get screwed out of the compensation.

I'm considering cancelling anymore appointments because I can't afford $4.00+ a gallon, and the hospital is only 20 miles away. That's 4 gallons of gas round trip.

Thanks for your encouragement, my friends, I need all the help I can get.

quote:

As for my VSO, she is even better than my last one. She works hard and doesn't take no for an answer. I feel VERY fortunate to have good people helping me.

Good. Keep up the good work!