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The
Veterans Multi-Purpose Center – a
veteran’s mental health care advocate
and veteran support organization in the
field for more than 20 years – is
pleased to introduce our new Corporate
Sponsorship Program. Corporate Sponsors
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its continuing mission to develop and
promote programs that touch people, and
save lives.
War-torn Troops Soothed
by Horses’ Spirit
(zootoo.com)
MIAMI -- The science of the
human-animal bond is proving very effective in a
new arena: on the home front of a new war.
Returning veterans are finding help, as well as
healing in therapy that involves a saddle and a
set of reins.
"It feels pretty good. I feel
tall," said U.S. Marine Gene Calonge, who
recently returned from his deployment. Learning
to ride again is strengthening the bodies and
minds of young vets here at the South Florida
Veterans Multi-Purpose Center in Davie, Fla.
The last time Calonge mounted
a horse, was his service with the Marine Corps.
This time around it's Sam, a 4-year-old Arabian,
giving him a much-needed boost.
"It's different bonding with
an animal, you feel like you're not going to be
judged so much about anything so ... you and him
just have a good time,” said Calonge.
AUDIE MURPHY
There is too much to say about this great man.
His military career is un-matched and well
reordered but few know of his personal efforts
to force the government to address the problem
of Korean and Vietnam veterans returning home
with PTSD.
THIS MEMORIAL DAY WE REMEMBER THIS GREAT
SOLIDER
Post war illness
Murphy suffered from post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD) after his return from the war.
He was reportedly plagued by insomnia, bouts of
depression, and nightmares related to his
numerous battles. His first wife, Wanda Hendrix,
often talked of his struggle with this
condition, even claiming that he had held her at
gunpoint once. For a time during the mid-1960s,
he became dependent on doctor-prescribed
sleeping pills called Placidyl. When he
recognized that he had become addicted to the
drug, he locked himself in a motel room where he
took himself off the pills, going through
withdrawal for a week...
VETERANS MULTI-PURPOSE CENTER OF CENTRAL
FLORIDA OPENS ON MEMORIAL DAY 2010
The South Florida Veterans Multi-Purpose
Center has opened the Veterans Multi-Purpose
Center of Central Florida. This facility is
operating from the 10 acre “Circle B Ranch”
in Groveland, FL (in the Metro Orlando area) The
new facility will offer Equine Assisted Therapy
Programs for veterans and their families along
with various outdoor activities including
Veteran Events Days with horse back riding,
camping, boating and fishing right on the
property.
Our Central Florida number is 352-587-1391
and our mailing address is 16540 Lake Stewart
Drive Groveland, FL 34736
We will be attending our first Memorial Day
Services in Clermont, FL this year.
A study shows that there may be a reason that
those with chronic post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD) deal with more physical health
issues as they age: Their immune system has been
compromised. The study is yet more evidence to
support the idea that people with PTSD go
through chemical changes after a psychological
injury. Lead author Monica Uddin, a researcher
with the Department of Epidemiology at the
University of Michigan School of Public Health,
and her colleagues began with the theory that
the increase in physical health issues — such as
heart disease — in those with PTSD may come from
immune system problems. To that end, they used
blood samples from 100 people in the Detroit
Neighborhood Health Study. Of those, 23 had been
diagnosed with chronic PTSD while 77 had not,
though many had been diagnosed with other mental
health issues, such as depression.
By looking
at genes in those blood samples, they found that
the people with PTSD had three areas where genes
had been methylated — turned on, essentially —
at higher levels than those without PTSD. One of
those areas was hearing. “Among the genes
uniquely methylated in the PTSD-affected group,
it is striking that the second-most enriched
cluster — sensory perception of sound — directly
reflects one of the three major symptom clusters
that define the disorder,” Uddin wrote. That
cluster is exaggerated startle response...
A has recognized certain cancers and other
health problems as associated with exposure to
Agent Orange and other herbicides or as
associated with military service. Veterans
suffering from the following conditions may be
eligible for disability compensation and health
care benefits:
· Acute and Subacute Peripheral
Neuropathy - A nervous system condition that
causes numbness, tingling, and motor weakness.
Under VA's rating regulations, it must be at
least 10% disabling within 1 year of exposure to
Agent Orange and resolve within 2 years after
the date it began.
· AL Amyloidosis - A rare disease caused when
an abnormal protein, amyloid, enters tissues or
organs.
· Chloracne (or Similar Acneform Disease) - A
skin condition that occurs soon after exposure
to chemicals and looks like common forms of acne
seen in teenagers. Under VA's rating
regulations, chloracne (or other acneform
disease similar to chloracne) must be at least
10% disabling within 1 year of exposure to Agent
Orange.
· All chronic B-cell leukemias including, but
not limited to, hairy-cell leukemia and chronic
lymphocytic leukemia. - A type of cancer which
affects white blood cells.
· Diabetes Mellitus (Type 2) - A disease
characterized by high blood sugar levels
resulting from the body’s inability to respond
properly to the hormone insulin.
· Hodgkin ’s disease - A malignant lymphoma
(cancer) characterized by progressive
enlargement of the lymph nodes, liver, and
spleen, and by progressive anemia...
