A Virtual World for Amputees

By Bob Brewin   11/03/09 12:58 pm ET

Image: BusinessWire

Three virtual reality companies have started to develop an online world for amputees with funding from the Army’s Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center.  The Amputee Virtual Environment Support Space (AVESS) project will research the needs of soldiers who suffered wounds that resulted in amputation and establish protocols and prototypes for addressing those needs in a virtual environment.  Since 2001, more than a thousand troops have lost a limb in combat operations in Afghanistan or Iraq, and the new virtual environment will give them a place to practice skills that will help with their rehabilitation.  Unlike the open world of Second Life, which anyone can access, the amputee virtual world will be a closed community. But it will use virtual world technology developed by Second Life operator Linden Labs. ADL Co., which develops virtual worlds for health care providers, and Virtual Ability Inc., which helps disabled people use Second Life, also are AVESS partners.

http://whatsbrewin.nextgov.com/2009/11/a_virtual_world_for_amputees.php?oref=latest_posts

Returning troops hit by alcohol abuse, depression

Fri Oct 30, 2009 8:39am IST

By Kate Kelland

LONDON (Reuters) – Alcohol abuse and depression are common among British troops returning from conflict deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan but post traumatic stress is less of a problem than previously thought, researchers said on Friday.  A study by British psychiatrists found that more than 27 percent of troops suffer post deployment mental health problems, but only around 5 percent have post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) — a debilitating illness that can be caused by wartime trauma.  There were was little difference in levels of PTSD symptoms between British and U.S. troops deployed to Iraq.  Amy Iversen of the King’s Centre for military health research at the Institute of Psychiatry in London, who led the study, said it showed the health needs of active troops and should be valuable for health planners and policy makers  “Alcohol misuse and depressive disorders are much more common and therefore should be the primary focus for education, prevention and intervention,” she wrote in the study.  Senior British military figures have accused the government of failing to provide enough care for soldiers suffering mental trauma after fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, where around 170,000 British troops have been deployed since 2001.  “Although our perception is that post traumatic stress disorder symptoms are the main source of psychiatric illness in service personnel, alcohol misuse and depressive disorders are actually much more common,” she said.  The study, published in the journal BioMed Central Psychiatry, analysed 821 military personnel to see how many suffered mental illness and post traumatic stress.

http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-43542020091030

Researchers Discuss Limitations Of Prevalence Estimates Of TBI And PTSD Among OIF/OEF Veterans

Article Date: 05 Nov 2009 – 10:00 PST

In a special guest editorial, Bass and colleagues discuss the limitations of current estimates of the prevalence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF) veterans. Since these estimates often determine the allocation of resources, the authors urge decision makers to understand the limitations of these prevalence estimates.   The authors discuss three main problems with the current prevalence rates of TBI and PTSD in the OIF/OEF population. First, the studies generally report the percentage of servicemembers who screen positive for TBI or PTSD, not those who have been diagnosed with the condition by an appropriately trained medical provider. Second, the study samples are not representative of the entire ever-deployed military population. Third, the degree of impairment for servicemembers who have or have had TBI or PTSD is unknown.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169966.php