Salem-News.com Healthcare articles

VA and Army Medical Care: More Dangerous than IED`s
It`s Also More Futile

Because medical cannabis is legal in Oregon I ended up with about one thousand PTSD Vets from all recent wars as legal MMJ users.

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - Along with other writers here, I have repeatedly posted articles of the same tone and I have received dozens of emails agreeing with me or commenting further in the same vein.

I have had very few comments from Vets stating that they had received good or even adequate care.

Army Psychiatrists: PTSD & Major Hasan - Retread

It's not a personality disorder.

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - The Fort Hood Massacre leaves many questions in my mind. I can look at this and think about it from several viewpoints. I did have a year of psychology in college and a course of psychiatry in medical school. By any standard that is not enough.

I did have advanced psychology courses in the Infantry as a Private Combat Infantryman. I was convinced that most of my sergeants, junior officers and even farther up the brass chain were off kilter.

Weekly H1N1 Influenza Update

“Right now, with limited vaccine, we encourage local health departments to focus on getting the vaccine to the members of the target group most at risk: young children, pregnant women and people aged 5 through 64 with underlying health conditions” -Mel Kohn, M.D., M.P.H., Oregon public health director

(SALEM, Ore.) - Since Sept. 1, 2009, 1,105 people have been hospitalized in Oregon with influenza-like illness; 40 people have died.

Based on data collected nationwide and in Oregon, while vaccine supplies are limited, public health officials are urging local heath departments and tribes to target vaccine outreach to the people who are at greatest risk for hospitalization and death.

Oregon Gets a `C` Ranking for Premature Births

November 17th marks the nation's 7th Annual Prematurity Awareness Day, when March of Dimes focuses the nation's attention on the growing problem of premature birth (birth before 37 weeks gestation).

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - For the second consecutive year, Oregon earned a "C" grade on the March of Dimes Premature Birth Report Card. While the grade remained the same, the state slipped in U.S. ranking and Oregon's preterm birth rate increased by a tenth of a percent.

The grades were determined by comparing preterm birth rates to the national Healthy People 2010 preterm birth objective, which is 7.6% of all live births. Oregon's rate increased slightly to 10.3% from 10.2% and the United States continues to fail at 12.7% with a "D" on the Report Card.

The Dog House Helps Vets With PTSD

Blackdog Foundation is a self funded veteran outreach that deals with the most unpleasant aspects of PTSD such as domestic/community violence intervention and mediation.

(OLYMPIA, Wash. ) - I started using the 38ft LCPL (WWII landing craft) my wife bought me to get Blackdog Foundation (Blackdog is a 501c3 set up to help veterans) out of her spare bedroom I was using as an office.

From the first time we used it, it blew me away how much peace using the boat brought those I was working with on PTSD issues.

Lack of Healthcare Kills Veterans at Much Higher Rate than Combat

Harvard study shows that for every American killed in Afghanistan in 2008, 14 military veterans died because they lacked healthcare coverage.

(SALEM, Ore.) - A report from Agence France Presse indicates that the number of veterans who died in 2008 because they didn't have healthcare, is 14 times higher than the military death toll in Afghanistan, for the entire year.

Two Harvard medical researchers analyzed data, comparing U.S. combat-related deaths in Afghanistan, with the number of veterans who died because they lacked the ability to seek out adequate healthcare and access medical services. All of the veterans surveyed were under the age of 65.

Medical Marijuana and the By-Product Industry: Drug Counselors, e.g. Roger Burt MSW

As marijuana becomes increasingly accepted, what will the people who profited from the misinformation do?

(MOLALLA, Ore.) - I hope everybody knows that I am a strong advocate for Medical Marijuana/Cannabis based upon its effective, safe medical use for the last 4000 years.

As a physician/pharmacologist/toxicologist who has assiduously studied the subject for 50 plus years I get horn swaggled by frequent articles about how useless, dangerous and addicting that this medicine is.

The Meeting of the Dogs

A veterans advocate from Washington meets our Dr. Phil Leveque to talk about PTSD.

(CURLEW, Wash. ) - Blackdog foundation is an outreach service to veterans and others in the community that are incapable of calmly dealing with the bureaucratic expectations of those in place to provide them help.

Our services are domestic/community violence intervention, PTSD reduction, anger management, peer accountability. We do MMJ conflict resolution and mediation for patients, providers, clinics, and families.

My Son Has the Swine Flu: A Daily Journal

If you have a child that is stuck home with the swine flu and ends up like my son, with negligible symptoms, your biggest problem will be his boredom

(AGOURA HILLS, Calif.) - We just went through the swine flu with our older son, Will. We didn’t panic or allow the hysteria of the msm (mainstream media) to scare us. His first reaction was simply, “Darn, I’m going to miss Halloween.”

With the swine flu, we’ve been deluged with scare reports from the media, ignoring the fact that each year tens of thousands of Americans die of the regular flu.

Beyond Fort Hood: Mental Health and Mood Disorders Bear Constant Military Scrutiny

We are a troubled nation. That trouble stems from a sense of helplessness. All the eloquent eulogies in the world can only soothe us but should never lull us into false complacency.

(SALEM, Ore.) - In some ways it was the modern-day series of shots heard round the world. Thirteen innocent soldiers at Fort Hood, TX, lay dead in a senseless massacre evidently perpetrated by a disgruntled army psychiatrist. That mental health screener had his own inner spirits of discontent as a would-be martyr who should have been smarter.

At this time we lack concrete information on his trigger within. At best, we can speculate from the sidelines.