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Are our soldiers being treated?

by Beth Vandenberg
(Ventura Ca)

I became interested in TBI when my soldier son had too many friends coming home with TBI'S, some mild some seriously debilitating, I now work as a caregiver for a man who suffered a serious TBI 6 years ago..I cringe to think he could have been healed if someone in the ER where he was in a coma with a GCS of 3 had known of progesterone therapy for TBI. He has lost so much. He sent me this link and I know of this clinical trial for progesterone during the first hours after a TBI . But my questions are can this progesterone IV or therapy help years after the initial TBI? Are medics in the field where so many of our soldiers suffer TBI's using this as a trial?

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Mar 27, 2012
 Are our soldiers being treated?
by: Wray

Hi Beth I wish I could say yes, but it's still being trialled. Why I have no idea, Donald Stein's work showed in the mid eighties that progesterone was protective. A major trial has now been started in the UK in five hospitals, but the results won't be out for a further two to three years. Why wait, when the initial study at Emory University in 2006 showed in was more effective than any other substance tested. Emory are now doing a 1000 person study, the results of this won't be out for a few years. This statement I find so annoying "we have to be cautious, the rewards of this trial could be phenomenal", from the report on the UK trials. Why does one need caution, when so many suffer, it's already been proven. Sadly they are not combining it with vitamin D, which further work by Stein found increased the benefits of progesterone. This is the reason I ask everyone to have a vitamin D test done. As Stein has found, the women using progesterone found persistent symptoms resolved once they got their vitamin D levels up. And that's in spite of using high amounts of progesterone, see here A study this Feb also found PTSD was increased in those who'd had a previous TBI, see here. US soldiers returning from Iraq with concussion ie mild TBI, had an increased incidence of PTSD and depression, see here. Concussion can occur from blast explosions, it doesn't need an impact on the head itself. 1 in 8 soldiers suffer from PSTD and few go for help, see here. Military combat is the most common cause in men. Whether progesterone can help years later I don't know. We had an opportunity to test it this year on a young man who'd had TBI about 5-6 years ago. At first his family were interested, but after speaking to his doctor, they abandoned the trial. We were very disappointed. Although the studies found progesterone should be given within 11 hours of injury, it appears it can work days later. I don't know if you've had the opportunity to read the story on the TBI page. One woman wrote in saying her step-son had suffered one on a Saturday. After many ops to the head, plus the usual drugs, the hospital told her they could do no more. By Thursday evening he was fading fast, she did an internet search and found progesterone was the answer. She was already using our cream, so rubbed it on her step-son. He came out of the coma on Friday morning, this is 6 days later. Continued below
Mar 27, 2012
 Are our soldiers being treated? Part 2
by: Wray

Hi Beth Allopregnanolone, a progesterone metabolite, is a potent analgesic and anxiolytic, see here, here and here. Progesterone itself is too. To my mind it's worth trying anything natural to relieve the suffering. But amounts of 500mg/day or more would be needed. The IV method of giving progesterone has been patented, and no hospital uses it yet. It seems from the story above that topical works too. Please ask the man you help to have a vitamin D test done, both the Vitamin D Council, who use ZRT Labs, and Birmingham Hospital, send out test kits. For more info on vitamin D levels, etc see the Vitamin D Council, GrassrootsHealth, Birmingham Hospital and Vitamin D Links websites. Blood levels should be 70-100ng/ml or 175-250nmol/L and not the 30ng/ml or 75nmol/L most labs and doctors regard as adequate. The minimum daily dose should be 5000iu's per day, although the latest research indicates it should be 10,000iu's per day, see here. Take care Wray

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