Seriously. What is wrong with these people's minds?

[cornermouse]

Story on 60 minutes about the discovery of a new use for an existing drug to stops the pain involved in post-traumatic stress syndrome. And guess what? The government shut down the study because some nitwit decided that failure to feel all of the pain would change the person and they don't approve of that. Another nattering idiot said that eventually it might get used if someone embarrassed themselves at a party. Seriously. What planet do these people live on?

Last laugh, so far, is that the Pentagon found out about it and contacted the doctor because they want to use it on post-traumatic soldiers. I hope they do. This sounds like a lifesaver to me.

[Monkeyman]

1. I have heard of this treatment it does have promise

But in the short run. PTSD can last forever

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

2. Right now, I have doubts about any breakthrough drug that can

alleviate PTSD.

It's a complicated diagnosis, requiring more than just a pill.

However, any breakthrough should be accessible to those who suffer.

Along with therapy and monitoring of the medication's efficacy.

Just my two cents. MKJ

[daninthemoon]

5. That picture is amazing. it speaks volumes.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

10. Charlie Brown forgives Linus for doing him dirty the last time they

ran against each other.

[sam sarrha]

14. do you mean the photo of McCain Humping Dubya's leg..??

[Downtown Hound]

6. I agree, a pill is simply symptom suppression

The disease is still there underneath. Nevertheless such a pill could be useful if used in conjunction with therapy, but over reliance on it would be very misguided.

[cornermouse]

11. text about the interview which basically gives a few of the facts.

I'm for anything that relieves ptsd. I don't approve of people suffering needlessly.
-------
http://blogs.ocregister.com/sciencedude/archives/2006/06/60_minutes_at_u.html

Lesley Stahl and a crew from the CBS news magazine "60 Minutes" visited UC Irvine this week to interview neurobiologist James McGaugh, who has long studied the role of adrenalin in forming strong memories of emotionally arousing experiences. McGaugh's work has other labs investigating whether Propranolol, a beta-blocker used to treat high blood pressure, also could be used to block painful memories experienced by people who suffer post-traumatic stress disorder, an affliction that afflicts many soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

McGaugh and fellow UCI neurobiologist Larry Cahill have done extensive research that shows that Propranolol blocks the formation of strong memories in rodents as well as in humans.

The "60 Minutes" visit comes less than six months after the show broadcast a profile of UCI neurobiologist Hans Keirstead, who uses human embryonic stem cells in work meant to find ways to ease or repair spinal cord injuries.
-------
It doesn't destroy their memory of the event. It just stops the feeling of pain associated with the tragedy.

[BuyingThyme]

3. I don't know. I might have a problem with soldiers who don't

feel pain after being ordered to murder people.

[cornermouse]

12. Do you have any idea how many people's lives have been

destroyed by ptsd? Its not limited to soldiers. A serious car accident, rape, beating, ground zero on 9/11 can cause ptsd and if people can't find a way to cope it literally destroys lives.

[BuyingThyme]

13. Does this have something to do with my post?

[kiahzero]

17. Yes

You seem to be saying that sufferers of PTSD should continue to suffer to prevent you from "having a problem."

[BuyingThyme]

20. I think people should have an incentive

not to murder other people.

[kiahzero]

21. That's great.

I thought the "All soldiers are murderers" craziness had died out, but I suppose not.

[BuyingThyme]

23. If you want to talk facts, we can do that.

The U.S. troops were sent to Iraq to murder and steal. Nothing else.

Why do YOU think they were sent to Iraq?

[kiahzero]

25. So you think they're morally culpable?

That they deserve to suffer?

[BuyingThyme]

26. They (and we) MUST suffer.

If they (and we) are made not to suffer, there will be no incentive to stop and prevent war.

Blowing people up is traumatic for good reason.

[kiahzero]

28. The grunts aren't the decision makers.

No matter how traumatic it is for them, it won't influence the people that do make the decisions.

[BuyingThyme]

30. It will if we practice democracy.

[kiahzero]

31. So, in the meantime, fuck them?

Fuck everyone who has PTSD, regardless of whether they got it through serving in a time of war, just so that you can make a political point?

That's disgusting.

[BuyingThyme]

32. Why do you have to make things up?

[kiahzero]

33. Who's making things up?

You want to deny medical treatment to people to make a political point.

[BuyingThyme]

34. Nope, you made up every word.

Just like the people who feed propaganda to "the troops."

Disgusting.

[kiahzero]

35. Right

I know backpedaling makes sense when you've just argued that innocent people should suffer for you to make a political point, but it doesn't do much good when your statements are quite literally above you for all to see.

[BuyingThyme]

36. I didn't say anything about making a point.

Again, you are making things up. It seems to be a compulsion with you.

It's easy to recognize, you know.

[kiahzero]

37. Oh?

"I think people should have an incentive not to murder people."
"They must suffer. If they are not made to suffer, there will be no incentive to stop and prevent war."
" if we practice democracy."

If you weren't advocating suffering as a way to make a point to people, what were you doing?

[BuyingThyme]

38. I'm trying to prevent murder. What are you doing?

[kiahzero]

39. By letting everyone with PTSD suffer.

So that people will "practice democracy" and stop wars. :eyes:

[BuyingThyme]

40. Yes, I know you can make things up. That's been settled.

[kiahzero]

42. Again, I ask, how is that making things up?

You are arguing that sufferers of PTSD should not be treated, because their pain is politically useful.

[BuyingThyme]

43. I didn't argue that sufferers of PTSD should not be treated.

You made that up and now you believe it.

I didn't say their pain was politically useful. You made that up and now you believe it.

[kiahzero]

44. I can't imagine why I would conclude that

They (and we) MUST suffer.
If they (and we) are made not to suffer, there will be no incentive to stop and prevent war.

Oh. Right.

[BuyingThyme]

45. Are you projecting?

Are you using the troops to make a political point?

Do you believe the best way to deal with the reality of murder is to drug the people involved?

[kiahzero]

46. PTSD is more than just "the reality of murder"

I reject your assertion that all combat constitutes "murder," but that's not really the subject of the discussion.

It seems that the researchers believed that this drug would be useful to help sufferers accept their memories without reliving them in an unhealthy way.

[BuyingThyme]

47. I didn't assert that all combat

constitutes murder. You made that up and now you believe it.

[kiahzero]

48. We were talking about soldiers, you brought up murder.

I can't imagine why anyone would ever believe that you were talking about soldiers.

[BuyingThyme]

49. We were talking about murder and you brought up politics.

I can't imagine why anyone would ever believe that you were talking about murder.

[kiahzero]

50. Actually, you brought up politics. (n/t)

[dflprincess]

4. I had mixed feelings about it

On the one hand it does sound like a blessing, but they don't seem to understand how it works and I have to wonder if it's just repressing memories that might come back stronger. (Of course, that's something that might not be known for years.) I didn't catch whether use of the drug is combined with therapy that might help the person taking it work through their feelings when they are able to deal with the memory in a more detached way.

[Clark2008]

15. That was the exact thought I had.

The reason we "remember" is so we can correct actions in the future, so we can learn from our experiences, so we can feel pain to know pleasure.

I guess, with strict regulation and used only in cases where nothing else works, this might be a life-saver, but I believe that remembering pain is in our psyche for a reason.

[Lurking Dem]

24. But you don't lose the memory.

You just lose the adrenergic response to it.

[Iris]

27. In addition, this could be used as a cheap way out - just prescribe a drug

and ditch talk therapy to save a few bucks.

[tothcarp]

7. PTSD

Light therapy is used to treat this with some success. If the
Gov. shut it down it may be because it did not show more
success than the existing therapies. Our government is insane.
There is not accounting for anything that they do. 

[Monkeyman]

8. There is a site called Combat PTSD

Don't have the link But Illna has done a hell of a lot of research on the subject. Also we have J Randy Barnes in KC who runs a PTSD clinic saying the must research on PTSD has now been stopped by Nicholson the Sec Of the VA.

[Minnesota_Lib]

51. Self-deleted - responded to wrong post

[BrotherBuzz]

16. The Government shut it down, not because it didn't work, but...

because the President’s Council on Bioethics condemned the study in a report that said our memories make us who we are and that "re-writing" memories pharmacologically … risks "undermining our true identity."


WTF? Guess the Bushco gang neglected to read the damn study, "It (the drug) doesn't erase your memory of it (the traumatic event). It makes it easier to remember and function."

[madmusic]

18. President’s Council on Bioethics working paper

“Better” Memories? The Promise and Perils of Pharmacological Interventions

http://bioethics.gov/background/better_memories.html

[BrotherBuzz]

19. Thanks

This working paper seeks to provide background for considering the ethical questions raised by our growing biotechnical abilities to improve or alter human memory. .....



And it is likely that we will be remembered, for better or for worse, by those who follow us, a fact that should inspire at least some sense of responsibility to use our new biotechnical powers wisely.

[madmusic]

53. You're welcome. It is an interesting paper.

On a very complex issue. And eugenics is in the back of everyone's mind as well, most likely. There is a sense of caution in some regarding nature v. science. How far do we go? Is there a line we should not cross?

Deep questions I can't answer.

[newyawker99]

29. Hi tothcarp!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Ecumenist]

9. I think that the more apt question would be the folllowing:

How do these people WITHOUT brains get these positions?

[stepnw1f]

22. A "Pill" is Only Meant to Treat Symptoms

Not cure a patient....

With that in mind, I see the potential for both promise and potential abuses. That goes for every medication out there on the market though.

Regardless, patients who suffer from PTSD could use some relief along with plenty of counseling. I lean on this as a positive....

I just hope this government of ours doesn't start giving this medicine to folks out on the battefield. That would be fucked up.

[warrens]

41. All progress bad

8 year olds in coal mines good.

[Minnesota_Lib]

52. I wonder how much lobbying the makers of the antidepressants which are currently used...

...as treatment have done? It seems it is alway someone's bottom line--and how powerful a lobby they have--that is the determining factor in cases such as this.