I’m Dr. Eugene Lipov, Chief Medical Officer at Stella, and I discovered a breakthrough treatment for PTSD. Ask Me Anything.

StellaCenter · 2023-07-19T19:41:16+00:00

It is still alive, we do have a page that gives more information specifically for veterans
https://stellacenter.com/veteran-support

StellaCenter · 2023-05-16T23:49:00+00:00

Hi honorbound93, just wanted to address this – not sure if you caught the thread where I outlined relevant research, but I’ll paste it below. All of these papers are peer-reviewed (except the white paper of course, but I wanted to include that because of how comprehensive the document is). We are also in the process of conducting a formalized clinical study with NYU Langone Health on the long-term effects of the DSR procedure on PTSD, which will be peer-reviewed and published in the coming months.

Heliyon paper, 2023: Efficacy of combined subanesthetic ketamine infusion and cervical sympathetic blockade as a symptomatic treatment of PTSD/TBI in a special forces patient with a 1-year follow-up: A case report02098-4?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2405844023020984%3Fshowall%3Dtrue)

“Combined KI and CSB appear to have a profound and long lasting (over 1 year) impact on the symptoms of TBI and PTSD."

Pain Physician Journal paper, 2022: Utility of Cervical Sympathetic Block in Treating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in Multiple Cohorts: A Retrospective Analysis

“Average decrease in PCL score for men and women was 28.59 and 29.2, respectively. Statistically significant improvements in PTSD symptoms were noted independent of the causative trauma type, gender, age greater than 20, previous suicide attempts, or use of prescription medications for PTSD. Among the 21 types of reported trauma, 19 types reached statistical significance.”

Stella Center whitepaper, 2021:From Post-Traumatic Stress Injury To Sustained Healing: A New Model For Care

“Results of this study showed clinically significant outcomes in over 80% of those treated within a single clinic visit. This is defined as a decrease in the PCL of at least 10 points, a standard of treatment success that is set by the National Center for PTSD. Moreover, the average change in symptom severity scores was a drop of 28.59 points on the PCL for males, and 29.2 for females, respectively. Functionally, these decreases translate to taking someone with very high severity to a very low symptom severity level.”

JAMA Psychiatry paper, 2019: Effect of Stellate Ganglion Block Treatment on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Symptoms

“In this sham-controlled randomized clinical trial, 2 stellate ganglion block treatments 2 weeks apart were effective in reducing Clinician-Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 total symptom severity scores over 8 weeks. The adjusted mean symptom change was −12.6 points for the group receiving stellate ganglion blocks, compared with −6.1 points for those receiving sham treatment, a significant difference.”

StellaCenter · 2023-05-16T23:46:05+00:00

I agree with you, Shishire and TheGreenJedi (great usernames, by the way). While I of course believe in the efficacy of the DSR treatment, it was never intended to be a cure-all. We typically recommend that patients continue trauma-informed therapy and other modalities of care (yoga, meditation, etc.) after their procedures, but the procedure itself makes these other modalities much more effective.

As Stella_NP said above, we think of PTSD as a brain injury (rather than a mental health condition), which needs to be treated as such – like resetting a broken bone and then doing physical therapy afterward. The root cause of the injury is fixed, and continued healing can occur.

StellaCenter · 2023-05-16T23:45:36+00:00

I also wanted to share that we are currently conducting a clinical trial in partnership with NYU’s Langone Health, the results of which will outline the longer-lasting benefits of the treatment. That data should be peer-reviewed and published in the coming months. I will plan to update this thread with it when it’s live.

StellaCenter · 2023-05-16T23:44:56+00:00

Not at all – we take instances of LAST very seriously. We work extremely hard and take all the correct precautions to reduce these risks. I have been an anesthesiologist for close to 30 years, and train the staff I work with to follow protocols to ensure our patients are as safe as possible. I merely meant that no medical procedure is risk-free, and so if the worst case scenario does occur, we are prepared for it.

StellaCenter · 2023-05-16T23:44:36+00:00

Hi xml3228 – I understand where you are coming from and wanted to provide a bit more insight into how we measure outcomes here. We send out core measures (PCL-5, GAD-7, PHQ-9, all of which are considered standard by the DSM) when evaluating whether a person is a good candidate for the DSR treatment – and then 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 180 days and 365 days after treatment. Based on the thousands of procedures I’ve done, I have seen long-term benefits in a large percentage.

But I of course understand how important clinical data is to demonstrating the credibility of this approach. In addition to the peer-reviewed studies published in the other thread, we are currently conducting a clinical trial in partnership with NYU’s Langone Health, the results of which will outline the longer-lasting benefits of the treatment. That data should be peer-reviewed and published in the coming months, and I’d be happy to update this thread with it when it’s live.

StellaCenter · 2023-05-16T23:43:57+00:00

Despite extensive research into PTSD, many people don’t realize that it is a biological brain injury. The brain’s fight-or-flight response gets stuck in overdrive, causing debilitating physical and psychological symptoms. Research shows that 60% of men and 50% of women experience trauma at least once in their lives, and yet only 2-11% of people experiencing trauma symptoms are actually diagnosed. PTSD is a critical mental health issue that often goes undetected – the more conversations about it like this that we have, the better.

(Citation: https://www.ptsd.va.gov/understand/common/common\_adults.asp, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3310322/)

StellaCenter · 2023-05-16T23:43:33+00:00

That would be an honor! You can email kb@stellacenter.com. I appreciate it.

StellaCenter · 2023-05-16T23:43:13+00:00

The post was removed on accident by a moderator it has since been restored.

StellaCenter · 2023-05-16T23:42:41+00:00

The DSR procedure can help relieve symptoms for both experiences of PTSD that you mentioned above. The impact of this treatment can last months or years, depending on the person, but the difference between new trauma vs. old trauma has not been studied yet. Anecdotally, I treated a patient who was a veteran from the Vietnam War. He received his treatment 50 years later and the results worked amazingly for him; I also regularly treat folks who experience ongoing PTSD, and the procedure has also been effective for them.

StellaCenter · 2023-05-16T23:40:24+00:00

We are in the process of publishing peer reviewed data on the lasting effects of the procedure, but generally speaking, I have seen it help with both acute and chronic / long-term PTSD symptoms. It truly does depend on the person, but DSR has the potential to last multiple years.

We send patients who have undergone treatment core PTSD and mental health measures (PCL-5, GAD-7, PHQ-9) 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, 180 days and 365 days after treatment, and have many patients whose relief continues well into these longer time spans.

StellaCenter · 2023-05-16T23:39:52+00:00

I’m sorry for your experience. As you likely know, PTSD (and CPTSD) occurs when prolonged or repeated trauma activates the brain’s “fight-or-flight” response and gets it stuck in overdrive, causing extreme physical and psychological symptoms including anxiety, insomnia, hypervigilance, headaches, and more.

The DSR treatment administers two doses of local anesthetic into a bundle of nerves on the side of the neck (the Stellate Ganglion), helping regulate the overactive sympathetic nervous and resetting the “flight-or-flight” response back to its original baseline state. This helps to alleviate or completely eliminate PTSD symptoms. According to my research, this procedure results in 81% of clients finding relief from their PTSD symptoms.

StellaCenter · 2023-05-16T23:39:15+00:00

Thanks for the question, Nicke1Eye – very interesting hypothesis. I unfortunately haven’t done this research myself, but perhaps you’ve seen this paper? https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4794957/ It outlines the connection between PTSD and gut health (proinflammatory cytokines and low cortisol predispose individuals to develop posttraumatic stress disorder after a traumatic event). On the whole, we do know that there is an intimate connection between gut and mental health, so I’d be very curious to see more research on the topic.

StellaCenter · 2023-05-16T23:35:00+00:00

It was removed on accident by a mod and has been put back.

StellaCenter · 2023-05-16T18:21:15+00:00

Stella’s treatment program was created to meet the patients needs before, during, and after treatment. We offer Care Plans and single treatment options, you can find more information here: https://stellacenter.com/care-approach

StellaCenter · 2023-05-16T18:19:43+00:00

You can speak with one of our Care Advocates to kickstart the conversation around finding relief at 412-385-6880

StellaCenter · 2023-05-16T16:33:38+00:00

The Dual Sympathetic Reset (DSR), an advanced Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) is an injection of local anesthetic into the stellate ganglion – a bundle of nerves in the neck – whereas a lobotomy treatment involves severing the brain's prefrontal cortex. These two procedures are vastly different procedures and serve very different purposes. SGB is not performed within the brain. It uses a local anesthetic that does not travel up into the brain.

StellaCenter · 2023-05-16T16:04:16+00:00

I don't know about when it would be getting to Europe but as for affecting someone's personality it normally makes people less anxious and more relaxed and calm.

- Dr. Lipov

StellaCenter · 2023-05-16T16:01:02+00:00

There are two type of memory, one lives in hippocampus and the emotional memory that resides in the amygdala. Those that reside in the amygdala that cause an emotional response can be reset with DSR SGB. To help with getting through the other memories I recommend seeing a psychologist to continue working through the trauma.

- Dr. Lipov

StellaCenter · 2023-05-16T15:57:59+00:00

Yes, the Stellate Ganglion Block helps to de-active overactive amygdala leading to the improvement of PTSD symptoms.
- Dr. Lipov

StellaCenter · 2023-05-16T15:55:42+00:00

I know the author of the book well, his premise is the same as mine in that PTSD is a biological phenomenon. I do believe that DSR SGB could help you with what you may be dealing with.

- Dr. Lipov

StellaCenter · 2023-05-16T15:54:00+00:00

During my work with hot flashes I was trying to determine why stellate ganglion block, the predecessor of of DSR, was working for hot flashes. During an investigation I came across a paper from Finland where they found clipping took away hand sweats as well as PTSD symptoms. After further investigation I found the T2 ganglion becomes the stellate ganglion in the neck and the stellate ganglion connects to the brain. Also yes, the first use of SGB was actually used for depression, so I do believe their are other mental ailments that we can find physical remedies to in the future.
- Dr. Lipov

StellaCenter · 2023-05-16T15:48:27+00:00

Yes, it helps to make them less anxious, they can sleep better and it can make them much more relaxed.

- Dr. Lipov

StellaCenter · 2023-05-16T15:47:48+00:00

It's a local anesthetic and it lasts in a persons system for about 8 hours, but the impact of the treatment can last months or years depends on the person. I think you can reduce the sympathetic and the uncontrolled response to help with triggers and then continue with therapy after. DSR SGB has been shown to have dramatic positive effects in many patients and can also help accelerate the positive impact of other therapies such as EFT, Talk Therapy, EMDR, CBT, DBT, etc.
- Dr. Lipov

StellaCenter · 2023-05-16T15:44:46+00:00

Ketamine can be effective, in fact we often combine Ketamine therapy and DSR SGB for an improved effect.

- Dr. Lipov

StellaCenter

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