# Key Iraq wound: Brain trauma



## big bad john (4 Mar 2005)

Key Iraq wound: Brain trauma
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
A growing number of U.S. troops whose body armor helped them survive bomb and rocket attacks are suffering brain damage as a result of the blasts. It's a type of injury some military doctors say has become the signature wound of the Iraq war.

  Shaun Radhay , a Marine, suffered brain damage and other injuries in a mortar blast.   
By H. Darr Beiser, USA TODAY 

Known as traumatic brain injury, or TBI, the wound is of the sort that many soldiers in previous wars never lived long enough to suffer. The explosions often cause brain damage similar to "shaken-baby syndrome," says Warren Lux, a neurologist at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington.

"You've got great body armor on, and you don't die," says Louis French, a neuropsychologist at Walter Reed. "But there's a whole other set of possible consequences. It's sort of like when they started putting airbags in cars and started seeing all these orthopedic injuries." (Related item: TBI gallery)

The injury is often hard to recognize â â€ for doctors, for families and for the troops themselves. Months after being hurt, many soldiers may look fully recovered, but their brain functions remain labored. "They struggle much more than you think just from talking to them, so there is that sort of hidden quality to it," Lux says.

To identify cases of TBI, doctors at Walter Reed screened every arriving servicemember wounded in an explosion, along with those hurt in Iraq or Afghanistan in a vehicle accident or fall, or by a gunshot wound to the face, neck or head. They found TBI in about 60% of the cases. The largest group was 21-year-olds. (Related story: Survivors struggle to regain control)

From January 2003 to this January, 437 cases of TBI were diagnosed among wounded soldiers at the Army hospital, Lux says. Slightly more than half had permanent brain damage. Similar TBI screening began in August at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., near Washington. It showed 83% â â€ or 97 wounded Marines and sailors â â€ with temporary or permanent brain damage. Forty-seven cases of moderate to severe TBI were identified earlier in the year. 

The wound may come to characterize this war, much the way illnesses from Agent Orange typified the Vietnam War, doctors say. "The numbers make it a serious problem," Lux says.

An explosion can cause the brain to move violently inside the skull. The shock wave from the blast can also damage brain tissue, Lux says. "The good news is that those people would have been dead" in earlier wars, says Deborah Warden, national director of the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center. "But now they're alive. And we need to help them."

Symptoms of TBI vary. They include headaches, sensitivity to light or noise, behavioral changes, impaired memory and a loss in problem-solving abilities.

In severe cases, victims must relearn how to walk and talk. "It's like being born again, literally," says Sgt. Edward "Ted" Wade, 27, a soldier with the 82nd Airborne Division who lost his right arm and suffered TBI in an explosion last year near Fallujah. Today, he sometimes struggles to formulate a thought, and his eyes blink repeatedly as he concentrates.


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## Cansky (5 Mar 2005)

What a horrible thing to have happen?  My youngest daughter suffered TBI at the age of 3, she is now just turning 5 and its a struggle everyday with her.  Both physically and mentally.  The worst is she looks just like everyone else but can't walk as well or learn easily.  They tell us if she had been an adult she wouldn't have survived, let alone be able to function as well.  My understanding is if your an adult its worse because the brain can't recover as quickly if at all.  Imagine being able to play the piano the suddenly losing that ability never to get it back.  In an adult that is what usually happens with TBI at least in a child she or he has a chance of brain cells learning new pathways and relearning some of what was lost.  War is hell enough without losing you everyday abilies we all take for granted.


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## old medic (4 Dec 2008)

Report sees long-term problems for troops who suffer traumatic brain injuries
Even mild brain injuries appear to be associated with problems such as seizures, aggression and dementia reminiscent of Alzheimer's disease, according to the Institute of Medicine report.
By Jia-Rui Chong - LA Times
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-brain-injuries5-2008dec05,0,6055958.story
8:16 AM PST, December 4, 2008



> Traumatic brain injuries, one of the signature injuries of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, can be linked to such long-term problems as seizures, aggression and dementia reminiscent of Alzheimer's disease, according to an Institute of Medicine report released today.
> 
> Even mild brain injuries, the report found, appear to be associated with some of these outcomes.
> 
> ...


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## the 48th regulator (4 Dec 2008)

VAC is also recognizing that this is an injury that must be looked at.

The symtoms are identical to PTSD, however, a diagnosis must be given immediately after the injury, as the brain heals itself physically, and the injury becomes harder to diagnose with current methods of detection.  Treatment for both  PTSD and Acute Stress Disorder (Caused by a TBI) are the same.

http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/clients/sub.cfm?source=mhealth/factsheets/acute

http://www.vac-acc.gc.ca/clients/sub.cfm?source=steannes/pub_research/bgroulx_03

Something that our troops must keep in mind, due tot he nature of most of the IED attacks in the Sandbox.

dileas

tess


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## Armymedic (4 Dec 2008)

From the layman standpoint, you are close enough to be correct.

From my standpoint, they are two totally differing injuries, with differing pathology and treatments.

Regadless, the one point that is absolute for both, it has to be recognized to be treated.


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## the 48th regulator (5 Dec 2008)

Prairie Dog said:
			
		

> From the layman standpoint, you are close enough to be correct.
> 
> From my standpoint, they are two totally differing injuries, with differing pathology and treatments.
> 
> Regardless, the one point that is absolute for both, it has to be recognized to be treated.



I agree with your statement, except for the part of treatment.

I was privileged to see a presentation on TBI and the association with PTSD last week in Ottawa, by two Psychiatrists that are leading the study in Canada.  Although the injuries are completely separate, the symptoms, and the Treatment are identical for both, at this time.

The reason for recognizing a TBI, and that is just a fancy term for concussion, is for the medical community to be able to monitor the patient for any later outcomes such as dementia, Alzheimer’s, etc.

dileas

tess


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