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The recent Boston Marathon attacks are believed to have resulted in several amputation injuries. However, for these victims, life with a prosthetic device is likely to be much easier, than has been the case in the past.

The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have contributed to tremendous advances in prosthetics technology, and today, veterans, as well as civilians, have access to prosthetics that are not only easy to wear, more comfortable and more effective, but also contribute to more natural walking.

Not only that, modern prosthetics also enable users to run, jump and climb with their artificial limbs. Performing such activities with the use of a prosthetic limb was unthinkable just a few decades ago. These days however, it’s fairly common to find amputees fitted with artificial limbs participating in a number of outdoor activities and sports.

Many prosthetic limbs also now make use of artificial intelligence to increase the effectiveness of the limb, and efficiency of movement, taking prosthetic technology one step further. Artificial limbs nowadays are waterproof, dust proof and corrosion-free.

What is also very encouraging for California veterans’ benefits lawyers is the wide range of prosthetic limbs that are currently available. There isn't a one-size-fits-all limb that veteran amputees can choose. There are limbs that may be suited to you depending on your requirement and your lifestyle.

Prosthetic limbs can be expensive, but it's not necessary that the most expensive device is the one that is most suited to you. Not everybody needs a high-tech expensive device with sophisticated top-of-the-line features of the kind that a marathon runner might need. It's important to discuss prosthetic limbs with your doctor before you decide on a suitable prosthetic device for you

There has been very little research done into how people who have suffered a brain injury, like veterans injured during combat duty, deal with the effect of their brain injury on their sexuality and sexual functioning. There have been some studies that have focused on how spouses of veterans deal with these injuries, but California veterans’ benefits lawyers have found that these studies have not delved heavily into the sexual effects of these injuries.
Research into this area is very important because the issue affects more than 3 million Americans who are living with brain injury in the country.

An investigative team recently conducted a critical review of at least 14 studies into the issue of sexuality and brain injury. Close to 1500 patients, their spouses, partners, and other professionals were included in the study. The results of the study have been published in the journal Neurohabilitation: an International Journal.

The reviewers analyzed a number of effects of a brain injury on a person’s sexual life. For instance, these persons may suffer from neuropsychological and psychological effects that come with changes in body image, loss of identity, depression, anxiety, and cognitive deficits. These can definitely impact a person's sexual identity.

A person who has suffered a brain injury may also need to take plenty of medications that may suppress sexual function. For instance, many drugs that are administered to people with traumatic brain injury like antihypertensives stimulants or antidepressants are known to have a depressing effect on libido. These drugs can affect the potential for ejaculation, arousal and orgasm.

Most importantly, traumatic brain injury can bring about changes in interpersonal relationships between patients and their spouses or partners, further compounding problems.

The researchers have concluded the review, and are calling for more investigations into these issues, so that better interventions for these problems can be identified and implemented.

With several hundred thousand veterans now believed to suffer from post traumatic stress disorder in the United States, the military is experimenting with new ways to help reduce the intensity of the symptoms. One avenue that the military is exploring is the use of meditation techniques to reduce symptoms of PTSD.

On the face of it, it seems like an insurmountable challenge to get hardened military veterans to practice meditation techniques. In fact, the normal methods of treatment for post traumatic stress disorder are drugs, behavioral therapy and other techniques. However, as California veterans disability benefits lawyers often find, many of these techniques simply don't work for a growing category of veterans.

In the kind of meditation techniques that are being studied by the military, a person focuses all his concentration on a single activity for a set time. The time can last between 15 and 20 minutes, and the activity can be as simple as focusing on the person's breathing.

According to the researchers, such mindful meditation can actually lower stress levels, and reduces the severity of the symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder. These techniques have been used with great effectiveness in other categories of the population, and the researchers believe that these techniques can also be used with similar success by service members for dealing with the stress of combat.

In fact, so effective are these techniques that the researchers believe that learning to meditate should be an essential part of the training of every military service member.

As part of the study, a group of Marine reservists were given training on meditation just before they went on combat duty in Iraq, while another support control group did not receive any training. The researchers found that the group of veterans that had the benefit of the meditation training showed much lower levels of stress and anxiety.

Traumatic brain injury affecting veterans is a grave source of concern to California veteran’s benefits lawyers. New research into traumatic brain injury among veterans in Afghanistan and Iraq has found that these veterans have very measurable abnormalities in the brain. The scientists are calling these abnormalities “potholes.”

The researchers analyzed cases of traumatic brain injury among veterans, and found that patients with traumatic brain injury seemed to have more brain alterations, or potholes. These alterations existed in the white matter of the brain. A comparison with patients who did not suffer from traumatic brain injury, found that these persons did not have comparable abnormalities.

In fact, the researchers found that the more severe the brain injury, the higher the number of white matter abnormalities in the brain. There also seems to be a correlation between the higher numbers of potholes as well as the severity of cognitive alterations in brain functions. For instance, a person with a higher number of such brain white matter abnormalities found it difficult to execute decisions, or make plans.

Veterans who suffer from mild brain injuries had significantly more number of potholes in brain white matter, than veterans who did not suffer traumatic brain injury. Persons who suffered from brain injury and had these abnormalities also seemed to perform poorly on cognitive tests that were meant to measure a person's decision-making abilities and planning abilities.

What's more, the researchers found that the existence of such potholes was not limited to veterans. When they examined the brains of civilians who had also suffered mild traumatic brain injury in accidents, falls and other non-combat situations, they found that these patients actually had more number of potholes in the white matter of the brain, compared to veterans.

When a person suffers from Alzheimer's disease, the body secretes abnormal levels of proteins that act as biological signals to provide information about the condition. Similar such chemical changes can also be found when a person suffers from a heart attack. However, there are no such biological markers or biomarkers that can help doctors understand the intensity of a traumatic brain injury, or identify the existence of post-traumatic stress disorder.

New research is aiming to change that. A number of studies are now focusing on discovering biomarkers or physiological signs that can inform doctors about whether a person suffers from a brain injury or post traumatic stress disorder.

Currently, there is a lack of biological biomarkers for mild traumatic brain injury as well as post traumatic stress disorder. In the lack of such biomarkers, there is no standardized test that can be administered to patients who are suspected of suffering from a mild brain injury, or post-traumatic stress disorder.

Current research that is going on at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland is investigating biomarkers for post traumatic stress disorder. This is a massive study, and involves about 1,500 subjects. The study is being funded by a $70 million grant by the Steven A and Alexander M Cohen Foundation.
The point is to use these biomarkers to develop a simple, affordable and convenient test for post traumatic stress disorder as well as brain injury. Ultimately, the aim is to develop a simple and convenient test that can be used just like a standardized home pregnancy test.

That kind of progress is a long way off, but California veterans benefits lawyers will await the conclusions of such research eagerly.

Any California veterans benefits lawyer knows that processing of benefits claims can take months. Unfortunately, in too many cases, the delays are so long that the claim processing is completed only after the veteran's death. According to a new report, cases in which the claim is processed only after the veteran’s death are becoming increasingly common.

The report has been published by the Center for Investigative Reporting, which claims that such delayed processing of claims is leading to thousands of veterans dying, before they are approved for the benefits and pensions that are due to them. According to the estimates, in the fiscal year ending September 2012, the Veterans Administration paid out $437 million in retroactive benefits to survivors of veterans who died while they waited for the claim to be approved. These unfortunate veterans, who didn't live see their claim approved, include World War II vets and Iraqi war veterans. The causes of death ranged all the way from natural causes waiting for their veteran’s pension, to suicide because claims were denied.

In all, it is estimated that close to 19,500 veterans died while they were waiting for their claim to be approved. Those numbers are a dramatic spike from just 3 years ago, when survivors of less than 6,400 veterans received retroactive benefits. The number of survivors of veterans, including widows and children, waiting for benefits has increased from less than 3,000 back in December 2009, to a high of 13,000 in January 2013.

In fact, so heavy is the backlog of veteran’s benefits claims that many lawmakers and California veterans benefits lawyers are calling it a national embarrassment.

A husband-and-wife research team in South Carolina is offering a treatment for symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder that includes the use of an unusual drug. The researchers base their treatment on small quantities of the hallucinogenic drug, ecstasy.

The drug, whose scientific name is MDMA, is known as a party drug, and has often featured heavily in the tabloids because of its use by the Hollywood set. Back in the 80s and 90s, ecstasy was widely used by people who loved the fact that it induced feelings of euphoria. In 1985, the drug was placed on a list of prohibited substances. However, some labs are permitted to produce MDMA for research purposes.

The South Carolina team has published their research paper in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. The study was conducted by the research team in collaboration with the University of South Carolina and the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies. Most of the patients involved in the study were victims of rape. The treatment included the use of psychotherapy with a dose of ecstasy. California veterans benefits lawyers believe that this is the first time that research has focused on the use of recreational drugs, like ecstasy in the treatment of PTSD.

The researchers say that out of the 21 people who took their treatment and recovered from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, 15 people reported no return of the symptoms today. These people took the treatment in the 2000s.

The military was not involved in the research. However, it is likely that the military will be interested in the findings of the study because the Department of Defense is currently researching new therapies for post traumatic stress disorder, a condition which is widespread among veterans.

The incidence of PTSD is likely to increase over the next couple of years, as troops begin to return home from combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, making it imperative that we continue investments in new PTSD therapies.

Researchers have found that veterans, who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, have a much smaller volume in an area of the brain that is responsible for emotions like fear and anxiety.

According to the researchers at the Duke University and the Durham VA Medical Center, this suggests that a significantly smaller volume in the amygdala, which is a small area in the brain that is responsible for regulating emotions, is linked to symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder.

California veterans benefits lawyers are aware of several studies conducted in animals that have found that the amygdala plays a significant role in regulating fear, stress and anxiety responses. However, the extent of the influence of this area on human emotions had not been confirmed. The researchers looked at the structural damage to the amygdala in persons who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, because they wanted to understand the effect of this region of the brain, which is responsible for processing of fear and other responses.

The research included about 200 combat veterans who had served in Afghanistan and Iraq. About half of the veterans suffered from post traumatic stress disorder, and the other 50% had been injured during combat, but had not developed any symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder.

The researchers then scanned and compare the volumes of the amygdala in these veterans. They found that post traumatic stress disorder was linked to a significantly smaller volume in the left and right amygdala. The research also confirmed the association between post traumatic stress disorder and a smaller left hippocampus.

However, the research doesn't seem to confirm whether the smaller size of the amygdala is due to physical trauma.

The Pentagon is investing more than $100 million in new efforts to fight both traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. The announcement of the new initiatives was made to coincide with the 11th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks, which triggered off the 2 wars that have resulted in thousands of veterans suffering post-traumatic stress disorder and brain injury.

California veterans benefits lawyers expect cases of post traumatic stress disorder to explode over the next few months, as soldiers return from combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. The US military has been very concerned about the high incidence of both traumatic brain injury as well as life-altering post-traumatic stress disorder, which has been blamed for the high incidence of suicides among returning veterans. The military has been investing in brain injury research, but it is clear that more needs to be done to understand how best we can help these veterans who are returning home in such a crippled state.

The Pentagon’s 2 new initiatives are the Consortium to Alleviate PTSD and the Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium. These 2 consortiums will be managed by the Department Of Veterans Affairs and the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs on behalf of the Defense Department.

The Consortium to Alleviate PTSD will study the potential indicators of the condition, possible strategies to prevent PTSD, interventions and treatments. The Chronic Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium will try to understand more about the causes of brain injury, the conditions that are associated with a worsening of brain trauma, as well as other related issues.

What makes both traumatic brain injury and post traumatic stress disorder especially challenging to beat is that very often, both of these conditions are found in the same person. A person who suffers a brain injury is at a much higher risk of suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.

Veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder are at a much higher risk of suicide than the general population. In fact, California veterans benefits lawyers have found that suicides are the number one killer among veterans. Concerned at the growing number of suicides in the United States, especially those involving veterans, the federal administration has announced the launch of a new strategy that will tap into technologies, like social media and social networking to reduce the risks of suicide.

The new strategy was announced by US Surgeon General Regina Benjamin, who says that it is time we finally understood that the entire community can prevent a suicide. The strategy will include the use of social media and social networking, sites like Facebook, mobile apps as well as other technologies to help drive a community-based effort that will help prevent suicides.

As part of the strategy, the plan is promoting a Facebook Inc. service. The service allows users to report any suicidal comments that they see from people online. If such a person has been identified, then the website will send that person an e-mail, urging him to talk to a counselor confidentially online, or to contact a suicide prevention hotline. Facebook is a big part of this new strategy, and for millions of Americans as well as veterans, it has become a daily journal. There are a number of cases where people posted their feelings of depression and anxiety on Facebook, just before they committed suicide.

According to Facebook's global vice president for public policy, the website will use its unique resources to help people who are depressed.

Besides Facebook, the new strategy will also include the use of mobile apps, which are able to help persons who are suffering from suicidal thoughts, to connect with counseling services that can help them.